Popular African Historical Fiction Books
Find historical fiction books written by authors from Africa for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (157)
1.
A Bookshop in Algiers by Kaouther Adimi EN
AlgeriaDescription:
'A beautiful little novel about books, history, ambition and the importance of literature.'Nick Hornby'Truly potent ... Adimi confronts us with episodes that are simply never spoken of in France' The New York Times Book ReviewIn 1936, a young dreamer named Edmond Charlot opened a modest bookshop in Algiers. Once the heart of Algerian cultural life, where Camus launched his first book and the Free French printed propaganda during the war, Charlot's beloved bookshop has been closed for decades, living on as a government lending library. Now it is to be shuttered forever. But as a young man named... continue
2.
A Dry White Season by Andre Brink EN
Country: Africa / 
South Africa
South Africa
Description:
As startling and powerful as when first published more than two decades ago, André Brink's classic novel, A Dry White Season, is an unflinching and unforgettable look at racial intolerance, the human condition, and the heavy price of morality. Ben Du Toit is a white schoolteacher in suburban Johannesburg in a dark time of intolerance and state-sanctioned apartheid. A simple, apolitical man, he believes in the essential fairness of the South African government and its policies—until the sudden arrest and subsequent "suicide" of a black janitor from Du Toit's school. Haunted by new questions and... continue
3.
A General Theory of Oblivion by Jose Eduardo Agualusa EN
AngolaDescription:
WINNER OF THE INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 2017 A finalist for the Man Booker International Prize 2016 The brilliant new novel from the winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. On the eve of Angolan independence, Ludo bricks herself into her apartment, where she will remain for the next thirty years. She lives off vegetables and pigeons, burns her furniture and books to stay alive and keeps herself busy by writing her story on the walls of her home. The outside world slowly seeps into Ludo’s life through snippets on the radio, voices from next door, glimpses of a man fleeing his... continue
4.
A Grain of Wheat by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o EN
KenyaDescription:
A masterly story of myth, rebellion, love, friendship and betrayal from one of Africa's great writers, Ngugi wa Thiong'o's A Grain of Wheat includes an introduction by Abdulrazak Gurnah, author of By the Sea, in Penguin Modern Classics. It is 1963 and Kenya is on the verge of Uhuru - Independence Day. The mighty british government has been toppled, and in the lull between the fighting and the new world, colonized and colonizer alike reflect on what they have gained and lost. In the village of Thabai, the men and women who live there have been transformed irrevocably by the uprising. Kihika, le... continue
5.
A Mouth Full of Salt by Reem Gaafar EN
SudanDescription:
The Nile brings them life, but the Nile also takes away. A small farming village in North Sudan wakes up one morning to the news that a little boy has drowned. Soon after, the animals die of a mysterious illness and the date gardens catch fire and burn to the ground. The villagers whisper of a sorceress who dwells at the foot of the mountains. It is the dry season. The men have places to go, the women have work to do, the children play at the place where the river runs over its own banks. Sixteen-year-old Fatima yearns to leave the village for Khartoum. In Khartoum, a single mother makes her w... continue
6.
Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah EN
TanzaniaDescription:
'One of Africa's greatest living writers' Giles FodenRestless, ambitious Ilyas was stolen from his parents by the Schutzruppe askari, the German colonial troops; after years away, he returns to his village to find his parents gone, and his sister Afiya given away. Hamza was not stolen, but was sold; he has come of age in the schutztruppe, at the right hand of an officer whose control has ensured his protection but marked him for life. The century is young. The Germans and the British and the French and the Belgians and whoever else have drawn their maps and signed their treaties and divided up... continue
7.
Agaat by Marlene Van Niekerk EN
Country: Africa / South Africa
South Africa
Description:
"I was immediately mesmerized . . . as brilliant as it is haunting." --Toni Morrison
8.
EgyptDescription:
Akhenatón, el Faraón monoteísta, hereje y poeta. La investigación de un estudiante.
Una novela con un sabor diferente, en la que Mahfouz nos traslada de nuevo al Egipto faraónico, que destacó en utilizar para presentar sus ideas. La idea de leer un evento desde más de una perspectiva... los motivos ocultos de cada uno de ellos se revelan a pesar del intento de cada uno de ocultar sus motivos detrás de máscaras de sabiduría. El método de Mahfouz al escribir la novela en un nuevo estilo, y no simplemente una narraci&o... continue
9.
All Your Children, Scattered by Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse EN
RwandaDescription:
WINNER OF THE PRIX ÉTHIOPHILE, THE PRIX DES RACINES ET DES MOTS, AND THE PRIX DES CINQ CONTINENTS DE LA FRANCOPHONIE Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse's debut novel follows three generations torn apart by the genocide against the Tutsis, as they try to reconnect with one another, rebuild broken relationships, and find their place in today's world. Blanche returns to Rwanda after building a life in Bordeaux with her husband and young son, Stokely. Reuniting with her mother Immaculata, old wounds are reopened for both mother and daughter while Stokely, caught between two countries, tries to understand whe... continue
10.
Any Human Heart by William Boyd EN
GhanaDescription:
The author of "Armadillo, The Blue Afternoon" and "Brazzaville Beach" now pens his most entertaining, sly and compelling novel to date, a novel that evokes the tumult, events and iconic faces of our time, as it tells the story of Logan Mountstuart--writer, lover and man of the world--through his intimate journals.