---
product_id: 117307935
title: "The Old Drift: A Novel Hardcover – March 26, 2019"
brand: "namwali serpell"
price: "A$46"
currency: AUD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 11
url: https://www.desertcart.com.au/products/117307935-the-old-drift-a-novel-hardcover-march-26-2019
store_origin: AU
region: Australia
---

# The Old Drift: A Novel Hardcover – March 26, 2019

**Brand:** namwali serpell
**Price:** A$46
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** The Old Drift: A Novel Hardcover – March 26, 2019 by namwali serpell
- **How much does it cost?** A$46 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.com.au](https://www.desertcart.com.au/products/117307935-the-old-drift-a-novel-hardcover-march-26-2019)

## Best For

- namwali serpell enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted namwali serpell brand quality
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## Description

Full description not available

## Images

![The Old Drift: A Novel Hardcover – March 26, 2019 - Image 1](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51FI1L7I4aL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    I wanted to love this but didn't.  I made it to the end by forcing myself.
  

*by S***D on Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2020*

When I started this EXTREMELY LONG book I was excited by its tour-de-force ambition and scope and some of the high praise reviews it had received as a Zambian novel.  I’m still impressed by many scenes and Serpell’s skill in writing dialogue. But by the end, I couldn’t wait for it to be done. As some other readers have noted, there are too many characters that became difficult to distinguish from one another; too many plot segues in different genres — realism, magical realism, technological science fiction (sort of).  While I liked the concept of examining the ancestors of the characters who inhabit the present and future by following the timelines and family threads, while I wanted to better understand the politics — appreciating the twist on Joseph Conrad’s anti-colonialism —  and while I liked the IDEAS of connecting virus research with the technological innovations that turn us all into beings in a horde, I ended up questioning the whole production.  Some characters are more compelling than others, but I came out of this after five days of marathon reading, just wanting to read a book with characters I care about more deeply, with stories I feel more completely immersed in.  And then when I look at the research teams that were assembled by this writer — all listed in the final acknowledgments — I found myself vaguely repulsed by so much ambition and outside support gone awry.  I’m aware that not everyone responded this way, but imho, this is a talented, sometimes brilliant writer who should have stuck with short stories or written four or five novels with this material:  not one.I'll stick with three stars, but this is not a novel I can imagine recommending to anyone I know looking for a great book to read.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Grand but overreaching
  

*by B***D on Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2019*

A work of fiction that takes place mostly in Zambia which begins— “It sounds like a sentence: Victoria Falls. A prophecy. At any rate, that’s the joke I used to make until Her Majesty Queen Victoria actually died in 1901, just before I landed on the continent.” Action continues right through to the future in 2023 involving grandmothers, mothers, and children from Italy, England, and Zambia. Plots and connections abound. Stories emanating from the immigrants to Zambia. Could have had more focus. I agree with Nadifa Mohamed: “Serpell is an ambitious and talented writer, with the chutzpah to work on a huge canvas. I was eager to read an African novel that used various genres and voices to put Zambia on the literary map but The Old Drift left me wanting a narrative that took on less but did more. With so many characters and so many incidents the story moves like a silt-laden river; it pools, it floods over, it stagnates.”

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Don’t give up on this incredible journey!
  

*by J***N on Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2019*

I really had no idea what I was getting into, in fact when I first started reading it I contemplated quitting several times,  It is long and sometimes frustrating to try to keep track of the characters (the family tree was tremendously helpful) but worth the effort.  The imagination, the imagery, the depth of the characters all made it an incredible first novel.  It certainly is worth the time and effort and will stay with me for a long time.

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*Product available on Desertcart Australia*
*Store origin: AU*
*Last updated: 2026-01-29*