English books from Africa
Recommended English books (652)
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
If you speak English here are some English books from Africa for the next part of the "Read Around The World Challenge".
491.
The Library of the Dead by T. L. Huchu EN
ZimbabweDescription:
Sixth Sense meets Stranger Things in T. L. Huchu's The Library of the Dead, a sharp contemporary fantasy following a precocious and cynical teen as she explores the shadowy magical underside of modern Edinburgh. WHEN GHOSTS TALK SHE WILL LISTEN Ropa dropped out of school to become a ghostalker – and they sure do love to talk. Now she speaks to Edinburgh’s dead, carrying messages to those they left behind. A girl’s gotta earn a living, and it seems harmless enough. Until, that is, the dead whisper that someone’s bewitching children – leaving them husks, empty of joy and strength. It’s on Ropa’s... continue
492.
The Life and Times of Michael K. by J. M. Coetzee EN
Country: Africa / 
South Africa
South Africa
Description:
From author of Waiting for the Barbarians and Nobel Prize winner J.M. Coetzee. J.M. Coetzee's latest novel, The Schooldays of Jesus, is now available from Viking. Late Essays: 2006-2016 will be available January 2018. In a South Africa turned by war, Michael K. sets out to take his ailing mother back to her rural home. On the way there she dies, leaving him alone in an anarchic world of brutal roving armies. Imprisoned, Michael is unable to bear confinement and escapes, determined to live with dignity. This life affirming novel goes to the center of human experience—the need for an interior, s... continue
493.
The Lions' Den by Iris Mwanza EN
ZambiaDescription:
Rookie lawyer Grace Zulu does not give up easily. She escaped an arranged marriage to put herself through university. Now she's got her first case. Her client is young Willbess 'Bessy' Mulenga, who has been arrested for offences 'against nature'. Bessy works in a men-only bar, loves to dance, to wear dresses and live freely. But in 1990's Zambia, following your own identity can get you beaten, jailed or even worse. Grace is determined to get Bessy out of custody. Then her terrified, bruised client goes missing without a trace. She knows something bad has happened, and that someone is trying to... continue
494.
The Living and the Rest by José Eduardo Agualusa EN
AngolaDescription:
Daniel lives with artist Moira on her native Island of Mozambique. They are awaiting the birth of their child, while also organising the island's first literary festival. But as soon as the first guests arrive, the coast is hit by a cyclone. The island is spared, but the bridge to the mainland is left impassable, and telephone and internet connections are severed. The islanders - and the writers who have come for the festival - are cut off from the outside world. Left to their own devices, the authors forge new bonds and make the best of a situation that gets stranger each day. Some believe th... continue
495.
The Lovers of Algeria : A Novel by Anouar Benmalek EN
AlgeriaDescription:
Nine-year-old Jallal is old enough to know that his life in Algeria is precarious at best - friends are as likely to kill you as save you. Having run away from home, he lives by selling peanuts and single cigarettes on the street. The proposal by the elderly Swiss woman named Anna is shocking and preposterous: travel with her through war-ravaged lands, as a translator, so she can find her lost husband and pray over the graves of their murdered children. To Anna, however, the risk is no less than when they first met in Algeria during yet another time of unspeakable terror decades ago. As Anna a... continue
496.
The Lying Days by Nadine Gordimer EN
Country: Africa / South Africa
South Africa
Description:
Helen Shaw is the daughter of white middle-class parents in a gold-mining town in South Africa. As Helen comes of age, her awareness of the African life around her grows. Her involvement with young blacks leads her into complex relationships of emotion and action in a culture of dissension.
497.
The Madonna of Excelsior : A Novel by Zakes Mda EN
Country: Africa / South Africa
South Africa
Description:
"A generous, patient, wry and intelligent voice...[that] suggests not just a writer who can seduce us through beautiful language and unfailing humor. We also encounter a writer who has the power to shock and frighten us, to astound and anger and unsettle us...In short, his is a voice for which one should feel not only affection but admiration." --Neil Gordon, New York Times Book Review Selection, Summer Reading, New York Times Book Review In 1971, nineteen citizens of Excelsior in South Africa's white-ruled Free State were charged with breaking apartheid's Immorality Act, which forbade sex bet... continue
498.
The Madwoman of Serrano by Dina Salústio EN
Country: Africa / 
Cape Verde
Cape Verde
Description:
The first novel by a female author to be published in Cape Verde, and the first to be translated into English, The Madwoman of Serrano is a magical tale of rural ideals and urban ambition, underpinned by an exploration of female empowerment. Serrano is an isolated village where a madwoman roams. But is she really mad or is she marginalised because she is wise and a woman? Could her babbling be prophecy? One day a girl falls from the sky and is found in the forest by Jeronimo. The villagers are suspicious of the newcomer, but Jeronimo falls in love with her. When she gives birth and disappears,... continue
499.
The Magic of Saida by M. G. Vassanji EN
KenyaDescription:
The Magic of Saida tells the haunting story of Kamal, a successful Canadian doctor who, in middle age and after decades in North America, decides to return to his homeland of East Africa to find his childhood sweetheart, Saida. Kamal's journey is motivated by a combination of guilt, hope, and the desire to unravel the mysteries of his childhood--mysteries compounded by the fact that Kamal is the son of an absent Indian father from a well-to-do family and a Swahili African mother of slave ancestry. Through a series of flashbacks, we watch Kamal's early years in the ancient coastal town of Kilwa... continue
500.
The Man Who Walked on Water : A Novel by Jacob Beaver EN
Description:
A trip to Appalachia to investigate a religious "miracle" becomes a transformational spiritual journey for one unsuspecting Londoner in this modern tale that touches on the mysterious questions in our lives—a poignant, wry novel infused with the humor and warm skepticism of Nick Hornby’s How to Be Good. Dumped, depressed, and bored with his dead-end job, Londoner John Mallory decides to shake up his life. He accepts his journalist brother’s offer to help him on a documentary film investigating a pastor in rural Tennessee who claims he can walk on water. Locals are convinced it’s the Lord’s wor... continue