Where You Go, I Will Go, Christina Fonthes
‘Silence is not simply the absence of noise; it is a language’ opens Christina Fonthes’ phenomenal debut novel. This opening line is an encapsulation of the powerful journey across generations that we are transported through as readers. Set decades and nations apart, in Britain and the Congo, Where You Go, I Will Go is a potent, vibrant multigenerational exploration of family, love, and loss.
From the Congo to London, and from the late 20th century to the early 21st, generations of women inherit the language of silence. In the 1980s Congolese capital of Kinshasa, teenage Mira is watching as her family catapults up their country's social hierarchy. As her family is coming into their own in society, she is coming of age, experiencing love – and with it, heartbreak – and social expectations from her family prevent her from expressing her love and she is confined to silence. Across the ocean in 2000s London, Bijoux glitters under the watchful eyes of her aunt. Whilst she attends church meetings and follows orders, Bijoux remains silent as to how she truly feels and who she loves, mirroring the story of Mira, although in very different circumstances. When the crescendo of the novel connects the two women, we realise that they will always be connected, and where one goes, the other will go.
Illuminating life in the Congo and England through female and queer voices, Where You Go, I Will Go weaves together two intertwining parallel stories with emotion and delicacy. Intricate character portraits are at the centre of the novel, and this combined with the vivid descriptions contributes to the incredibly rich and layered nature of the story. I was so enraptured in the beautiful writing and the lives of each of the characters that I read this novel entirely in two sittings. Christina Fonthes’ debut novel is simply wonderful, and I am so excited to read whatever she writes in the future.
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