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".
671.
The River Between by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o EN
KenyaDescription:
Explores life on the Makuyu and Kameno ridges of Kenya in the early days of white settlement. Faced with an alluring, new religion and "magical" customs, the Gikuyu people are torn between those who fear the unknown and those who see beyond it.
672.
The Road to the Country by Chigozie Obioma EN
NigeriaDescription:
THE TWICE BOOKER-SHORTLISTED AUTHOR 'Obioma is truly the heir to Chinua Achebe' New York Times 'Incredibly moving and hopeful' Nadifa Mohamed 'Remarkable' Alice Walker 'A major voice' Salman Rushdie 'A wondrous novel’ Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah At first the vision is grainy but slowly it clears, and there appears the figure of a man. When a country is plunged into civil war, two brothers on either side of it are divided. They will try to find their way back to each other. Kunle's search for his sibling Tunde becomes a journey of atonement which sees him conscripted into the army to fight a war h... continue
673.
Country: Africa / 
South Africa
South Africa
Description:
She does not know how, but has a sabi from her earliest memory that she was different. What she does know is that 'difference' had currency in the past, and it certainly still has currency today. The Sabi will have an effect on you - have no doubt about that. In her debut novel, Diane Brown takes a scenic and open-eyed walk down memory lane to the 1960's when apartheid was in full swing to the early 1990's when South Africa was beginning to sense freedom. She ventures further back in time to help solve the puzzle of the current time, how did South Africa become so angry and so violent? Writing... continue
674.
The Sand Child by Tahar Ben Jelloun EN
MoroccoDescription:
A poetic vision of power, colonialism, and gender in North Africa, The Sand Child has been justifiably celebrated around the world as a daring and significant work of international fiction.
675.
The Scent of Burnt Flowers : A Novel by Blitz Bazawule EN
GhanaDescription:
Fleeing persecution in 1960s America, a Black couple seeks asylum in Ghana, but fresh dangers and old secrets threaten their newfound freedom in this hypnotic debut novel. “I am truly blown away by this novel.”—Jacqueline Woodson, New York Times bestselling author of Red at the Bone ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: CrimeReads When the windshield of his Chevy Impala shatters in a dark diner parking lot in Alabama, Melvin moves without thinking. A split-second reaction marrows in his bones from the days of war, but this time it is the safety of his fiancé, Bernadette, at stake. Impulse keeps t... continue
676.
The Scents of Marie-Claire by Habib Selmi EN
TunisiaDescription:
This novel from one of Tunisia's leading writers, the first of his works to be translated into English, narrates a love story in all its stages, in all its glorious and inglorious details. Moment by moment we become acquainted with the morning rituals, the desires of the flesh, the turbulence of the spirit, and even a few unattractive personal habits. It is a journey that takes us inside the nuances of what passes between two lovers, from the first glances of attraction to the final words of anger. It is a journey filled with all the hallmarks of the complex relationship between one man and on... continue
677.
The Schooldays of Jesus by J. M. Coetzee EN
Country: Africa / South Africa
South Africa
Description:
LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2016 Observer and Daily Telegraph Book of the Year 2016 David is the small boy who is always asking questions. Simón and Inés take care of him in their new town, Estrella. He is learning the language, he has begun to make friends and he has the big dog Bolívar to watch over him. But he'll be seven soon and he should be at school. And so, Davíd is enrolled in the Academy of Dance. It's here, in his new golden dancing slippers, that he learns how to call down the numbers from the sky. But it's here too that he will make troubling discoveries about what adults ... continue
678.
The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives : A Novel by Lola Shoneyin EN
Description:
African-born poet Lola Shoneyin makes her fiction debut with The Secret Lives of Babi Segi’s Wives, a perceptive, entertaining, and eye-opening novel of polygamy in modern-day Nigeria. The struggles, rivalries, intricate family politics, and the interplay of personalities and relationships within the complex private world of a polygamous union come to life in The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives—BigLove and The 19th Wife set against a contemporary African background.
679.
The Selfless Act of Breathing by JJ Bola EN
Country: Africa / 
Congo, Democratic Republic of
Congo, Democratic Republic of
Description:
Michael Kabongo is a British-Congolese teacher living in London when one day he suffers a devastating loss, and his life is thrown into a tailspin. As he struggles to find a way forward, Michael spontaneously decides to go to America and become someone new, living the life of his dreams--until his money runs out.
680.
The Seven Solitudes of Lorsa Lopez by Sony Lab'ou Tansi EN
Country: Africa / Congo, Democratic Republic of
Congo, Democratic Republic of
Description:
Sony Labou Tansi's surreal portrait of a despised and incompetent regime is a biting, burlesque fable, incisive in its description of postcolonial life. History has been silenced in this modern African state: only the voices of the dead cry out for justice. It is a cry answered by Estina Bronzario, the Woman of Bronze, determined to act against the political and moral corruption of male-dominated society. Murders escalate, crowds ebb and flow, and the years roll by. But all the while, the police never come... 'Central Africa's greatest writer.' New York Times 'No greater genius than Sony Lab'o... continue