Show Me the Magic: Travels Round Benin by Taxi Book

Benin is an obscure place. As Annie Caulfield says in Show Me the Magic, her perceptive travelogue about the country, even her most knowledgeable friends had only heard of the British Museum's famous Benin bronzes--and those in fact hail from Nigeria. But Benin's attractions are obvious after reading this book, for this small West African state is the home of vodou--not the pin-sticking cult sensationalised in popular psychology, but a religion whose origins far predate those of monotheism. Benin's history is as rich as its mythology, and so, in parallel with the journey into vodou is one into the ancient kingdom of Dahomey, as Caulfield visits the various centres of this old African empire. As the book's title implies, though, much of the narrative involves mysticism. The profusion of magical beliefs in West Africa is as great today as it has ever been; here, most people believe things that would have them confined to asylums elsewhere, and indeed, as Caulfield is guided round the country by Isidore, her taxi driver, she sees the magical beliefs of the Beninois as a means of masking mental illness--like many an anthropologist before her. Nevertheless, her scepticism about magic does not harm the narrative's integrity. Her friendship with Isidore is sensitively drawn, and she has a strong understanding of the history of Dahomey, as well as of the callousness so often shown towards Africa by Europeans. By the end, we care deeply about the characters we have met, and, whether the magic is real or not, we know that Benin is a special place.--Toby GreenRead More