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== Walls to Bridges: A Novel ==

Walls to Bridges is a 2019 novel by Cameroonian writer, Blessed E. Ngoe. The story follows the journey of Numa Noto, a student from the fictional country of Biyeria who lives and studies in the United States at a moment of dire political transformations.

=== Plot ===

Priscilla and her siblings resolve that Numa, the youngest in the family should go and complete his education in the United States. Their hope is that Numa will benefit from the American Dream and bring joy to their family and their community of Bonaliomo. Although Noto, the oldest brother initially objects to Numa’s traveling to the US, citing racism and recent incidences of violence in that country, Numa eventually travels to Las Cruces, where he takes up graduate studies at New Mexico State University.

In Las Cruces, he befriends Nora Woods, a middle-aged white woman whom he rescues from an attack by unknown assailants. Proving to be a good student, Numa gains the approval of his academic advisor, Dr. Lee, who even advises Numa to go back home to Biyeria after his studies. Lee believes that Numa would make a better server to mankind in his home country. But Dr. Lee soon announces his early retirement and return to Ireland. Numa, whose stipend is tied to Dr. Lee becomes stranded at a time when a US government policy on immigration has resulted in a government shutdown.

Numa encounters the beautiful Alicia de la Rosa during a Black Students’ Association meeting and the two soon fall in love. Their romance, however, is preceded by Numa’s loss of his passport and the possibility of repatriation, as his student visa nears expiration. At the same time, revolutionaries from Wouria, the minority English-speaking region of Biyeria, begin to agitate for political reform after one of their leaders is killed. Inspired by the leadership of Dr. John Billa, some of the revolutionaries known as the Children of Fire begin an arms struggle against the Biyerian government. With an expired passport and a soon-to-expire student visa in hand, Numa’s future in the United States soon turns uncertain. He is also unable to go back to his war-torn country. His Nigerian friend, Uche, encourages him to marry an American woman so that he can get legal residency, but Numa’s morals and his love for Alicia deter him from doing so. Even after Alicia leaves him and returns to Texas, Numa remains hesitant to marry for papers.

Numa resorts to filing for political asylum to enable him stay in the US. Two days after he files, he is arrested when he and Stellar, a Kenyan American who seemed to have feelings for him, are eating at a local restaurant. While in detention, Numa recruits the help of Carley Dawn, a young law intern who seeks to represent immigrants and asylum seekers. An attempt on his life during his detention begins a nationwide campaign for his release, which soon turns into a worldwide avenue for political talk. Alicia learns of Numa’s predicament just when she realizes that she may be pregnant for him. She repents of her breakup and decides to return to Numa and support him in his time of need. She arrives on the day Numa is released and set to speak at the NMSU campus. As he mounts to the platform to speak to the crowd that has gathered to welcome him back to freedom, Numa is shot by an unknown person in the crowd. He falls in the arms of Alicia who never gets the chance to tell him she may be pregnant.

=== Themes ===

Some of the themes we encounter in the novel are:

The American Dream : Numa moves to study in the US with the hope of achieving his American Dream. Part of that is to give his family a better life, but a greater part of it, he comes to realize, is to make a family with Alicia de la Rosa. Numa largely does not achieve this dream as his incarceration and eventual shooting demonstrate. Although we do not know for sure whether Alicia is pregnant for Numa, it is possible to assume that his dream to live with Alicia forever is thwarted by the possibility that he may not survive the gunshot.

Love: Love holds the novel together. Priscilla, Numa’s oldest sister, exhibits a deep kind of love for her youngest brother to the point of considering him her son. Numa and Nora Woods also share a friendship that is defined by strong commitment to one another. The crowning element of love comes from that which Numa and Alicia share. Even though punctuated by historical circumstances and the uncertainties of youth, Numa and Alicia’s love proves to be pure and enduring as Numa’s final act happens in the loving arms of Alicia.

Race and Racism : Throughout the novel, allusions are made to the rhetoric of race and racism that inundates both the social and political life of the United States. Immigration policies are seen to be driven by racial ideologies for the most part. Stewart, Carley’s boyfriend, disapproves of Numa and people of his race and works to resist them. Numa is attacked while in detention by an immigration officer who may have had racist motivations.

Revolution: As people sense oppression in Biyeria, revolutionary action begins to take shape, leading to civil war in the fictional African country. From revolution, other themes like displacement, violence, war, etc., become visible.

=== Relevance ===

The relevance of the novel, Walls to Bridges, is in its engagement with contemporary themes and motifs.

In America: Written at the height of the Trump presidency, the novel speaks to the challenges that the American community faced with President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and rhetoric on race. Also, the story touches on one of the least talked about problems in the US – international students. The novel brings to fore some of the most salient problems that international students face in the US and the struggles they navigate especially after completing their studies.

In Africa: Although Biyeria is a fictional country, the novel presents it as a prototype of some of the worst African dictatorships that existed at the time of the writing. It may be said that the country is an allegory of Cameroon, the country of the author, where conflict between the largely French-speaking government and an English-speaking minority has led to the Ambazonian War of Independence.

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