A book you love.

In general, I recommend The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.

I like how this book takes on colonialization, by flipping the script.  It takes place in the Congo, right as the Congo was starting to undergo a lot of political upheaval.

A missionary family goes to the Congo – the father is very intent on converting the natives, the rest of the family is along for the ride.  The catch – the story is told primarily from the perspectives of the four daughters of the family (the mother appears to narrate two chapters, one at the beginning and one near the end).

I tend to describe the book as so: “Missionary family goes to the Congo intent on changing Africa.  Instead, they are changed by Africa in many ways.”