Popular African Contemporary Fiction Books
Find contemporary fiction books written by authors from Africa for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (127)
1.
A gorda : romance by Isabela Figueiredo PT
Country: Africa / 
Mozambique
Mozambique
Description:
Maria Luísa, a heroína deste romance, é uma bela rapariga, inteligente, boa aluna, voluntariosa e com uma forte personalidade. E é gorda. E isto, esta característica física, incomoda-a de tal modo que coloca tudo o resto em causa. Na adolescência, sofre e aguenta, em silêncio, as piadas e os insultos dos colegas. Fica esquecida, ao lado da mais feia das suas colegas, no baile dos finalistas do colégio. Mas não desiste, não se verga, e vai em frente, gorda, à procura de uma vida que valha a pena viver.
2.
A Song of Comfortable Chairs by Alexander McCall Smith EN
ZimbabweDescription:
In this latest installment in the beloved No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, Grace Makutsi encounters a pair of quandaries that will require all of her and Mma Ramotswe’s cleverness and generosity to resolve. “An escape from life’s woes as well as a suggestion for how to make the whole deal more palatable—fragility, fruit cake, and all.” —The Boston Globe Grace Makutsi’s husband, Phuti Radiphuti, is in a bind. An international firm is attempting to undercut his prices in the office furniture market. Phuti has always been concerned with quality and comfort, but this firm seems interested on... continue
3.
Algerian White by Assia Djebar EN
AlgeriaDescription:
In Algerian White, Assia Djebar weaves a tapestry of the epic and bloody ongoing struggle in her country between Islamic fundamentalism and the post-colonial civil society. Many Algerian writers and intellectuals have died tragically and violently since the 1956 struggle for independence. They include three beloved friends of Djebar: Mahfoud Boucebi, a psychiatrist; M'Hamed Boukhobza, a sociologist; and Abdelkader Alloula, a dramatist; as well as Albert Camus. In Algerian White, Djebar finds a way to meld the personal and the political by describing in intimate detail the final days and hours ... continue
4.
All das zu verlieren by Leïla Slimani DE
MoroccoDescription:
»Die neue Stimme der französischen Literatur.« ZEITmagazin Kann man sich zu seinem Glück zwingen? Prix Goncourt-Preisträgerin Leïla Slimani erzählt von der Zerrissenheit einer Frau und schafft eine »moderne Madame Bovary« (Libération). Nach außen hin führt Adèle ein Leben, dem es an nichts fehlt. Sie arbeitet für eine Pariser Tageszeitung, ist unabhängig. Mit ihrem Ehemann, einem Chirurgen, und ihrem kleinen Sohn lebt sie in einem schicken Viertel, ganz in der Nähe von Montmartre. Sie reisen, sie fahren übers Wochenende ans Meer. Dennoch macht Adèle dieses Leben nicht glücklich. Gelangweilt ei... continue
5.
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie EN
NigeriaDescription:
WINNER 2013 – National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction FINALIST 2014 – Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction FINALIST 2014 – Andrew Carnegie Medal for Fiction LONGLISTED 2015 – International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award A searing new novel, at once sweeping and intimate, by the award-winning author of Half of a Yellow Sun: a story of love and race centered around a man and woman from Nigeria who seemed destined to be together—until the choices they are forced to make tear them apart. Ifemelu—beautiful, self-assured—left Nigeria 15 years ago, and now studies in Princeton as a Graduate Fellow. ... continue
6.
An Island : A Novel by Karen Jennings EN
Country: Africa / 
South Africa
South Africa
Description:
NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE • LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE • A “beautifully and sparingly constructed” (The New York Times) novel about a lighthouse keeper with a mysterious past, and the stranger who washes up on his shores—An Island is the American debut of a major voice in world literature. “An Island by Karen Jennings is quite simply a revelation—a ferocious, swift chess game of a novel.”—Paul Yoon, author of Run Me to Earth ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Vulture Samuel has lived alone on an island off the coast of an unnamed African country for more than two decades. He tends to... continue
7.
An Ordinary Wonder by Buki Papillon EN
Description:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'OMG!!! This has to be my best book of the year!... Made me laugh and it made me cry!... So heartbreaking but inspiring at the same time. Loved it!' Goodreads Reviewer A powerful novel about an intersex Nigerian teenager and the courage to be yourself. Raised as a boy in a grand but unhappy family in Nigeria, Otolorin Akinro escapes to boarding school knowing two things: she is truly a girl, and to stay safe, she must hide that truth. Away from the cruelty of her childhood home, Oto blooms even as she strives to be the best boy she can, finding true friendship and working hard to earn a ... continue
8.
Another Morocco by Abdellah Taїa EN
Description:
Tales of life in North Africa that flirt with strategies of revelation and concealment, by the first openly gay writer to be published in Morocco. Tangier is a possessed city, haunted by spirits of different faiths. When we have literature in our blood, in our souls, it's impossible not to be visited by them. —from Another Morocco In 2006, Abdellah Taïa returned to his native Morocco to promote the Moroccan release of his second book, Le rouge du tarbouche (The Red of the Fez). During this book tour, he was interviewed by a reporter for the French-Arab journal Tel Quel, who was intrigued by th... continue
9.
Avenues by Train by Farai Mudzingwa EN
Description:
When seven-year-old Jedza witnesses a tragic incident involving a train and the death of his close boyhood friend in his hometown Miner’s Drift, he is convinced that his life is haunted. Now in his mid-20s, Jedza is a down-and-out electrician, moving to Harare in the hopes that he will escape the darkness and superstitions of the small town. But living in the shadowy restless atmosphere of the Avenues with its mysterious pools of water rising under msasa trees, he is tormented by the disappearance of his sister and their early encounters with ancestral spirits, the shapeshifting power of the n... continue
10.
Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin EN
ZambiaDescription:
"Baking Cakes in Kigali" is a novel about the real meaning of reconciliation - about how, in the aftermath of tragedy, life goes on and people still manage to find reasons to celebrate.