• About
    • About Us
    • What is Eco-fiction?
    • Contributors
    • Tour Guide
    • Copyright, Privacy, and AI
    • More!
    • News
    • Support Us
  • Authors
    • World Eco-fiction Series
    • Indie Corner
    • Dragonfly Library
    • Women Working in Nature and the Arts
    • All Interviews
    • Quotes
  • Books & Database
    • Database
    • Turning the Tide (for kids)
    • Book Recs
    • Reviews
    • Reviews-Youth
  • Submit
  • Games, Film, Music
  • Blog
  • Links and Resources
Dragonfly: An exploration of eco-fiction
  • About
    • About Us
    • What is Eco-fiction?
    • Contributors
    • Tour Guide
    • Copyright, Privacy, and AI
    • More!
    • News
    • Support Us
  • Authors
    • World Eco-fiction Series
    • Indie Corner
    • Dragonfly Library
    • Women Working in Nature and the Arts
    • All Interviews
    • Quotes
  • Books & Database
    • Database
    • Turning the Tide (for kids)
    • Book Recs
    • Reviews
    • Reviews-Youth
  • Submit
  • Games, Film, Music
  • Blog
  • Links and Resources

Oil on Water, Helon Habila

Mary Woodbury

April 1, 2019

Habila’s spare but vivid prose takes the reader from the tenements of the working poor to the mansions of oil executives, from the camps of armed militants to peaceful, quasi-monastic communities devoted to the worship of nature gods. But as diverse as Nigeria is, the entire country has one common, overwhelming reality: oil. Oil money fuels the economies of Lagos and Port Harcourt. Oil poisons the rivers where villagers used to live off fishing, forcing many to urban shantytowns. The devastation wrought by oil drives others to become guerrilla fighters, in a futile effort to drive the multinational companies out of Nigeria.

–The Boston Globe

Goodreads Reviews

Average Rating:

3.6 rating based on 2,020 ratings (all editions)

ISBN-10: 0393339645
ISBN-13: 9780393339642
Goodreads: 9912728

Author(s):
Helon Habila
Publisher:
Published: //

"The new generation of twenty-first-century African writers have now come of age. Without a doubt Habila is one of the best." —Emmanuel Dongala

In the oil-rich and environmentally devastated Nigerian Delta, the wife of a British oil executive has been kidnapped. Two journalists-a young upstart, Rufus, and a once-great, now disillusioned veteran, Zaq-are sent to find her. In a story rich with atmosphere and taut with suspense, Oil on Water explores the conflict between idealism and cynical disillusionment in a journey full of danger and unintended consequences.

As Rufus and Zaq navigate polluted rivers flanked by exploded and dormant oil wells, in search of "the white woman," they must contend with the brutality of both government soldiers and militants. Assailed by irresolvable versions of the "truth" about the woman's disappearance, dependent on the kindness of strangers of unknowable loyalties, their journalistic objectivity will prove unsustainable, but other values might yet salvage their human dignity.
Information from Goodreads.com
  • Libraries
Links from Goodreads.com
 

Oil on Water Reviews

Reviews from Goodreads.com

Back to Goodreads

Follow

Link Tree

Subscribe to Dragonfly's newsletter



Translate

Selected Interviews

  • Mohammed Ahmad
  • Yaba Badoe
  • R.A. Busby
  • David Brin
  • E.G. Condé
  • Omar El Akkad
  • Helon Habila
  • Julie Janson
  • Cristina Jurado
  • Oonya Kempadoo
  • Wu Ming-yi
  • Pola Oloixarac
  • Waubgeshig Rice
  • Jewell Parker Rhodes
  • Pitchaya Sudbanthad
  • Tlotlo Tsamaase
  • Sheree Renée Thomas
  • Jeff VanderMeer
  • Cynthia Zhang
  • Read more...

Support

Check here for how you can help support this site!

Grist's Imagine 2200

To Labor for the Hive, Jamie Liu

Cabbage Koora: A Prognostic Autobiography, Sanjana Sekhar

A trusted .eco domain

Tags: Helon Habila

Mary Woodbury

Leave a Comment Cancel

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Geekoscopy Interview
Eco-Genres
DORKS Chat
Extinction Rebellion
Black Lives Matter
Eco-fiction Recs
Eco-weird Interview
Black Lives Matter
A History of Eco-fiction
The Ecological Weird
Rewilding Our Stories: Discord
Social Impact Survey Results
Around the World in 80 Books
Rising Appalachia

Copyright © 2025 — Dragonfly: An exploration of eco-fiction. All Rights Reserved

Designed by WPZOOM