How did the mixing in of Liberian history help you to contextualize Helene's story? What about her story and the way she told it was universal?ġ0. Discuss the distinction between the native Liberians and the "Congo people." How did you react to Helene's cousin CeRue saying, "don't call me Congo, my grandma da Vai woman"? What does the national observance of Matilda Newport Day say about the relationship between native Liberians and Congo people? When war hit Liberia how did the distinctions become even more evident? Contrarily, how were the lines further blurred?ĩ. How did it change your understanding of the young Helene to learn that her fears were not unfounded? What forms have the imaginary boogiemen of your youth taken in adulthood?Ĩ. Then we learn that her classmate Richard was indeed chased by a heartman, and only narrowly escaped. Helene spends her childhood fearing seemingly harmless entities like negee and heartmen. Why do you think Helene and her sisters played, "when war time come"? Did Helene paint anything about the national unrest going on in Liberia? Did circumstances or events she experienced in her early life portend war?ħ. What were some of the experiences they shared that made it clear that Eunice was more than a "live-in playmate"? How does the relationship evolve over the course of their lives?Ħ. Discuss Helene's relationship with Eunice in the house at Sugar Beach. Throughout her childhood in Liberia Helene wishes to become a "been-to." When she moved to Knoxville in 1980 it "seemed like a place where was trapped, prison far from home." How does she eventually make the States seem more like home?ĥ. When did she pray? For what did she pray?Ĥ. Discuss the role of religion in Helene's childhood. Why do you think Helene chose to title her memoir The House at Sugar Beach even though she spent only seven years of her life there? What about the house is metaphorical for her entire childhood? Her entire life?ģ. The first sentence of Helene Cooper's memoir is, "This is a story about rogues." Did you find this statement to be true? What sort of rogues did Helene fear she would encounter in Liberia?Ģ. And at its heart, it is a story of Helene Cooper’s long voyage home. At once a deeply personal memoir and an examination of a violent and stratified country, The House at Sugar Beach tells of tragedy, forgiveness, and transcendence with unflinching honesty and a survivor's gentle humor. In 2003, a near-death experience in Iraq convinced Helene that Liberia-and Eunice-could wait no longer. She reported from every part of the globe-except Africa-as Liberia descended into war-torn, third-world hell.
![house made of sugar story house made of sugar story](https://utahstories.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Sugar-Mill-Plans-fixed3-min.jpg)
At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill she found her passion in journalism, eventually becoming a reporter for the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. They left Eunice behind.Ī world away, Helene tried to assimilate as an American teenager.
![house made of sugar story house made of sugar story](https://utahstories.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/DSC_0940-595x398.jpg)
After a brutal daylight attack by a ragtag crew of soldiers, Helene, Marlene, and their mother fled Sugar Beach, and then Liberia, for America. The Coopers and the entire Congo class were now the hunted, being imprisoned, shot, tortured, and raped. And on April 12, 1980, a group of soldiers staged a coup d'état, assassinating President William Tolbert and executing his cabinet. But Liberia was like an unwatched pot of water left boiling on the stove. Cooper’s daughter.”įor years the Cooper daughters-Helene, her sister Marlene, and Eunice-blissfully enjoyed the trappings of wealth and advantage. Eunice, a Bassa girl, suddenly became known as “Mrs.
![house made of sugar story house made of sugar story](https://www.sbs.com.au/food/sites/sbs.com.au.food/files/styles/full/public/palm-sugar-production-gettyimages.jpg)
When Helene was eight, the Coopers took in a foster child-a common custom among the Liberian elite. It was also an African childhood, filled with knock foot games and hot pepper soup, heartmen and neegee. Her childhood was filled with servants, flashy cars, a villa in Spain, and a farmhouse up-country. Helene grew up at Sugar Beach, a twenty-two-room mansion by the sea. Helene Cooper is “Congo,” a descendant of two Liberian dynasties-traced back to the first ship of freemen that set sail from New York in 1820 to found Monrovia. Journalist Helene Cooper examines the violent past of her home country Liberia and the effects of its 1980 military coup in this deeply personal memoir and finalist for the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award.