These families are intertwined by the actions of the novel's first narrator, Percy M. Clark,[3] who is based on a real man from Cambridge, England, who moved to Zambia (then Rhodesia) in the early 20th century as one of Europe's many colonists across the African continent.

[4] Reviewing it in The Guardian, Nadifa Mohamed wrote: "Namwali Serpell’s first novel is a rambunctious epic that traces the intertwined histories of three families over three generations.

"[5] The Observer's review concluded, "By the end, set in a near future involving a new digital device embedded in the user’s skin, we realise how slyly Serpell is testing our assumptions, before a cunning last-minute swerve forces us to question why we don’t consider science fiction a viable mode for the great African novel.

"[6] In The Old Drift, Serpell experiments with different forms of narrative in order to help readers view the story from different viewpoints.

[7] Writing for The New York Times, Dwight Garner praised the debut, saying "The reader who picks up The Old Drift is likely to be more than simply impressed.