Popular African Adult Books
Find adult books written by authors from Africa for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (69)
1.
A Mouth Full of Salt by Reem Gafar EN
SudanDescription:
The Nile brings them life. But the Nile also takes away. 1970s. A village in North Sudan is shaken by the news that a little boy has drowned. Then the village camels die of a mysterious illness; the date tree fields catch fire and burn to the ground. The women whisper rumours of a mysterious sorceress from the Nuba mountains. It is the dry season. The men have no work, the women have their own troubles, the children continue to play where the river runs over its own banks. For 14-year-old Fatima escape lies in the big city of Khartoum. 1950s. In Khartoum, Nyamakeem is 33, a single mother makin... continue
2.
A Murder of Hate by Yasin Kakande EN
UgandaDescription:
A Murder of Hate is a gripping crime thriller that immerses readers in a world where murder, politics, and international diplomacy collide in a dangerous web of deceit and desire. Boston detectives Lisa Garcia and Basudde "Bus" Erias, two fierce rivals, are thrust into the heart of a chilling investigation when the niece of an African president-an exchange student in Boston-is brutally murdered. As they dig deeper into the case, they uncover more than just a killer; they expose the dark and deadly connections between Washington's power players and the ruthless dictators they secretly support. ... continue
3.
A Spell of Good Things : A novel by Ayobami Adebayo EN
NigeriaDescription:
A dazzling story of modern Nigeria and two families caught in the riptides of wealth, power, romantic obsession, and political corruption from the celebrated author of Stay with Me • "A stunning debut novel ... in the lineage of great works by Chinua Achebe and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie." —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times Eniola is tall for his age, a boy who looks like a man. Because his father has lost his job, Eniola spends his days running errands for the local tailor, collecting newspapers, begging when he must, dreaming of a big future. Wuraola is a golden girl, the perfect child of a... continue
4.
An Orchestra of Minorities by Chigozie Obioma EN
Description:
A heart-breaking story about a Nigerian poultry farmer who sacrifices everything to win the woman he loves, by Man Booker Finalist and author of The Fishermen, Chigozie Obioma. Set on the outskirts of Umuahia, Nigeria and narrated by a chi, or guardian spirit, AN ORCHESTRA OF MINORITIES tells the story of Chinonso, a young poultry farmer whose soul is ignited when he sees a woman attempting to jump from a highway bridge. Horrified by her recklessness, Chinonso joins her on the roadside and hurls two of his prized chickens into the water below to express the severity of such a fall. The woman, ... continue
5.
Ancestor Stones by Aminatta Forna EN
Country: Africa / 
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Description:
A young West African woman, who has been living in England for years and is married to a British man, returns to visit her family after years of civil war and receives an extraordinary look into the lives of the women in her family over the past century.
6.
Appelez-moi Cize : Conversations avec Stéphane Boudsocq by Cesaria Evora FR
Country: Africa / 
Cape Verde
Cape Verde
Description:
Cesaria Evora, c'est un talent, une sincérité, l'ambassadrice d'un style musical et d'un peuple. Cesaria, c'est une carrière et une vie que, pour la première fois, la chanteuse raconte. Elle se remémore ses années d'enfance au Cap-Vert dans les quartiers pauvres de la capitale. Sans fard, elle en évoque les moments difficiles, lorsqu'elle est placée chez des religieuses ou sa relation avec l'alcool. Avec la simplicité qui la caractérise, Cesaria raconte dans ces pages sa carrière musicale, ses succès immenses et sa philosophie d'une vie à la fois riche et simple.
7.
Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue EN
CameroonDescription:
A compulsively readable debut novel about marriage, immigration, class, race, and the trapdoors in the American Dream—the unforgettable story of a young Cameroonian couple making a new life in New York just as the Great Recession upends the economy New York Times Bestseller • Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award • Longlisted for the PEN/Open Book Award • An ALA Notable Book NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR • The New York Times Book Review • San Francisco Chronicle • The Guardian • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Chicago Public Library • BookPage • Refinery29 • Kirkus Reviews Jende Jonga, a... continue
8.
Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani EN
Description:
Based on interviews with young women who were kidnapped by Boko Haram, this poignant novel by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani tells the timely story of one girl who was taken from her home in Nigeria and her harrowing fight for survival. Includes an afterword by award-winning journalist Viviana Mazza. A new pair of shoes, a university degree, a husband--these are the things that a girl dreams of in a Nigerian village. And with a government scholarship right around the corner, everyone can see that these dreams aren't too far out of reach. But the girl's dreams turn to nightmares when her village is att... continue
9.
By the Sea by Abdulrazak Gurnah EN
TanzaniaDescription:
On a late November afternoon Saleh Omar arrives at Gatwick Airport from Zanzibar, a far away island in the Indian Ocean. With him he has a small bag in which there lies his most precious possession - a mahogany box containing incense. He used to own a furniture shop, have a house and be a husband and father. Now he is an asylum seeker from paradise; silence his only protection. Meanwhile Latif Mahmud, someone intimately connected with Saleh's past, lives quietly alone in his London flat. When Saleh and Latif meet in an English seaside town, a story is unravelled. It is a story of love and betr... continue
10.
Cette aveuglante absence de lumière : roman by Tahar Ben Jelloun FR
MoroccoDescription:
Avec ce roman, Tahar Ben Jelloun donne une interprétation littéraire de l'horreur et de l'oubli où furent tenus, dix-huit années durant, les prisonniers du bagne de Tazmamart, au Sud-Est du Maroc. Incarcérés après l'attentat manqué - et le massacre - de Skhirat en juillet 1971, les prisonniers de Tazmamart furent littéralement ensevelis dans le silence et dans l'obscurité, dans un lointain désert de sable. Enfermés, comme au temps de Louis XI, dans des cachots-tombeaux où nulle station debout n'était possible, ils vécurent dans sa plus inhumaine intensité la souffrance d'une mort vivante. Sur ... continue