English books from Africa

Recommended English books (825)
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".
611.

The Last Will and Testament of Senhor Da Silva Araújo by Germano Almeida EN

Rating: 4 (4 votes)
Country: Africa / Cape Verde flag Cape Verde
Description:
"In his will, Senhor da Silva Araujo has left a memoir that is a touching web of elaborate self-deceptions. He desired so ardently to prosper, to be taken seriously, and to join (perhaps, if they would have him) the exclusive Gremio country club. But most of all, he wanted to be a good man. And yet, shady deals, twists of fate, an illegitimate child: such is the lot of poor, self-critical Senhor da Silva Araujo. A bit like Calvino's Mr. Palomar in his attention to protocol and in his terror of life's passions; a bit like Svevo's Zeno (a little pompous, a little old-fashioned, and often hapless... continue

612.

The Legacy by Tsitsi V. Himunyanga-Phiri EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Africa / Zimbabwe flag Zimbabwe
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.

613.

The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún by J. R. R. Tolkien EN

0 Ratings
Description:
This previously unpublished work by Tolkien, written during the 1920s and '30s, makes available the author's extensive retelling in English narrative verse of the epic Norse tales of Sigurd the Volsung and The Fall of the Niflungs.


615.

The Library of the Dead by T. L. Huchu EN

Rating: 5 (3 votes)
Country: Africa / Zimbabwe flag Zimbabwe
Description:
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

616.

The Lieutenant of Kouta by Massa Makan Diabaté EN

Rating: 2 (1 vote)
Country: Africa / Mali flag Mali
Description:
The Lieutenant of Kouta is the first novel in Massa Makan Diabaté’s award-winning trilogy. Featuring an introduction by leading Diabaté scholar Cheick M. Chérif Keïta and Shane Auerbach, it tells the story, part tragicomic and part hagiographic, of an African lieutenant in the French Army who returns as a decorated hero from the battlefields of Europe to Kouta, a fictionalized version of the author’s own birthplace, the Malian town of Kita. Upon his return, Siriman Keita finds it difficult to adjust to village life as he navigates traditional customs in his attempts to create his place in the ... continue

617.

The Life and Times of Michael K by J. M. Coetzee EN

Rating: 5 (2 votes)
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

618.
The Life of Antony and the Letter to Marcellinus

The Life of Antony and the Letter to Marcellinus by Saint Athanasius EN

0 Ratings
Country: Africa / Egypt flag Egypt
Description:
Athanasius (c. 295-373) Bishop of Alexandria, spiritual master and theologian, was a major figure of 4th-century Christendom. The Life of Antony is one of the foremost classics of asceticism. The Letter to Marcellinus is an introduction to the spiritual sense of the Psalms.

619.

The Lights of Pointe-Noire by Alain Mabanckou EN

0 Ratings
Country: Africa / Congo flag Congo
Description:
A moving meditation on home, home-coming and belonging from Francophone Africa's most important writer.

620.

The Lions' Den by Iris Mwanza EN

0 Ratings
Country: Africa / Zambia flag Zambia
Description:
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


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