Read Around Africa Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Africa.
Best books from Africa (810)
781.
We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo EN
ZimbabweDescription:
A remarkable literary debut--shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize! The unflinching and powerful story of a young girl's journey out of Zimbabwe and to America. Darling is only ten years old, and yet she must navigate a fragile and violent world. In Zimbabwe, Darling and her friends steal guavas, try to get the baby out of young Chipo's belly, and grasp at memories of Before. Before their homes were destroyed by paramilitary policemen, before the school closed, before the fathers left for dangerous jobs abroad. But Darling has a chance to escape: she has an aunt in America. She travels to this ... continue
782.
The book of Memory by Petina Gappah EN
Description:
In The Book of Memory, an albino woman named Memory is languishing in a maximum security prison in Harare, Zimbabwe, where she has been tried and convicted of murder. As part of her appeal, her lawyer insists that she write down what happened; that is, the events that led to the killing of her adoptive father, Lloyd Hendricks. But who was Lloyd Hendricks? Why does Memory feel no remorse for his death? And did everything happen exactly as she remembers? Moving between the townships of the poor and the suburbs of the rich, and between past and present, the 2009 Guardian First Book Award–winning ... continue
783.
House of Hunger by Dambudzo Marechera EN
Description:
Winner of the Guardian Fiction Prize, 1979 and first published in 1978, The House of Hunger is a selection of interconnected short stories that tell of Zimbabwe in chaos. In a style somewhat reminiscent of Joyce's Dubliners, the stories deal with psychological and social alienation. Dambudzo Marechera's work is not material typically associated with African literature. His stories are psychologically, rather than politically, motivated as his depictions of living in exile and outsiderhood show.
784.
Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga EN
Description:
A modern classic from the Booker-shortlisted author of This Mournable Body The groundbreaking first novel in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s award-winning trilogy, Nervous Conditions, won the Commonwealth Writers Prize and has been “hailed as one of the 20th century’s most significant works of African literature” (The New York Times). Two decades before Zimbabwe would win independence and ended white minority rule, thirteen-year-old Tambudzai Sigauke embarks on her education. On her shoulders rest the economic hopes of her parents, siblings, and extended family, and within her burns the desire for indepe... continue
785.
The Legacy by Tsitsi V. Himunyanga-Phiri EN
Description:
This new Zambian woman writer is a leader in Zambia on issues concerned with women and development. In her first novel she puts into focus the degrading beliefs and practices of a male-dominated society. Dealing, for example, with issues of widowhood and sexual exploitation, the novel's message is a call for a change in attitude towards the issue of inheritance. But the novel does not fall into the trap of blaming all such societal ills on culture and men; rather she enjoins women themselves to fight for their rights and not assume that a man should do everything for them.
786.
Waiting for the Rain by Charles Mungoshi EN
Description:
The award-winning writer Charles Mungoshi is recognised in Africa, and internationally, as one of the continent's most powerful writers today. This early novel deals with the pain and dislocation of the clash of the old and new ways - the educated young man determined to go overseas, and the elders of the family believing his duty is to stay and head the family.
787.
Harvest of Thorns by Shimmer Chinodya EN
Description:
The 1990 Commonwealth Writers Regional Prize voted Harvest of Thorns the winner in the Best Book category. Harvest of Thorns tells the story of Benjamin Tichafa who grows up in Rhodesia in the 1960s. From a conservative, religious family, but exposed to the heady ideas of the black nationalist movements, the young student is pulled in different directions. Isolated and troubled at boarding school, he is provoked into leaving, making his way to Mozambique, and joining the freedom fighters. There, in the crucible of a bitter civil war of liberation, the young man develops into manhood. Returning... continue
788.
Without a Name and Under the Tongue by Yvonne Vera EN
Description:
Chronicles the live of Zimbabwean women in two stories, the first a tale about a young woman fleeing the war to seek a new life in Harare, and the second about a mute teenager struggling to cope with the pain of incest.
789.
The Hairdresser of Harare by Tendai Huchu EN
Description:
Vimbai is the star hairdresser of her salon, the smartest in Harare, Zimbabwe, until the enigmatic Dumisani appears. Losing customers to this good-looking, smooth-talking young man, Vimbai fears for her job, vital if she's to provide for her young child. But in a remarkable reversal the two becomes allies, Dumi renting a room from Vimbai, then inviting her to a family wedding, where to her surprise, he introduces her to his rich parents as his 'girlfriend'. Soon they are running their own Harare salon, attracting the wealthiest and most powerful clients in the city. But disaster is near, as Vi... continue
790.
Description:
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2022 BOOKER PRIZE From the award-winning author of the Booker Prize finalist We Need New Names, an anthropomorphic blockbuster of a novel that chronicles the fall of an oppressive regime, and the chaotic, kinetic potential for real liberation that rises in its wake. Glory centres around the unexpected fall of Old Horse, a long-serving, tyrannical leader of the fictional country of Jidada, and the drama that follows for a rumbustious nation of animals on the precarious path to freedom. Inspired by the unexpected fall by coup, in November 2017, of Robert Mugabe—Zimbabwe’s pres... continue