Read Around Africa Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Africa.
Best books from Africa (1155)
561.
Saara by Mbarek Ould Beyrouk EN
Country: Africa / 
Mauritania
Mauritania
Description:
Mbarek Ould Beyrouk's greatly acclaimed novel Saara was the winner of the prestigious Prix Littéraire Les Afriques 2023. The story is told through three different narrators, Saara, an attractive young woman who is both unconventional, liberated and determined; the Sheikh, a young man who succeeds his father as the leader of a Sufi order striving to live exemplary lives in their oasis community and follow the path to salvation and the Beggar, befriended by Saara and who cares devotedly for his disabled mother and is the voice of the marginalised. It is their story and their lives are intertwine... continue
562.
The Last Brother by Nathacha Appanah EN
MauritiusDescription:
Raj is oblivious to the Second World War being fought beyond his tiny exotic island. His mother is his sole company while his father works as a prison guard, so the boy thinks only of making friends. One day, from the far-away world, a ship brings to the island Jewish exiles who have been refused entry to Israel. David, a recently orphaned boy of his own age from Prague, becomes the friend that he has longed for, and Raj takes it upon himself to help David to escape from the prison. As they flee through sub-tropical forests and devastating storms, the boys battle hunger and malaria - and forge... continue
563.
Eve Out of Her Ruins by Ananda Devi EN
Description:
Two girls: Eve, whose body is her only weapon and source of power; Savita, Eve's best friend and the only one who loves her selflessly, planning to leave, but not without Eve. Two boys: Saadiq, gifted would-be poet, deeply in love with Eve; Clelio, the neighbourhood tough, waiting without hope for his brother to send for him from France. All are desperate to escape the cycle of fear and violence in which they are trapped.
564.
Blue Bay Palace by Nathacha Appanah-Mouriquand EN
Description:
Exposing the extremes of life in a developing country, this novel of doomed love shows how poverty, class divisions, and ramshackle housing become even harder to bear when luxurious resorts and rich tourists arrive on the scene. Growing up on the island of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean, lonely young Maya hopes that someday she might escape her poverty and find happiness in the desirable housing developments near the new hotels. When she falls in love with a man from a well-to-do family, she believes that her dream is within reach, but her hopes are shattered when her lover is too weak to defy... continue
565.
566.
Riambel by Priya Hein EN
Description:
Fifteen-year-old Noemi has no choice but to leave school and work in the house of the wealthy De Grandbourg family. Just across the road from the slums where she grew up, she encounters a world that is starkly different from her own - yet one which would have been all too familiar to her ancestors. Bewitched by a pair of green eyes and haunted by echoes, her life begins to mirror those of girls who have gone before her. Within Noemi's lament is also the herstory of Mauritius; the story of women who have resisted arrest, of teachers who care for their poorest pupils and encourage them to challe... continue
567.
Black Spartacus : The Epic Life of Toussaint Louverture by Sudhir Hazareesingh EN
Description:
A biography of the Haitian revolutionary leader Toussaint Louverture.
568.
Description:
"Set in Mauritius during the uprising following the death of the Mauritian musician Kaya, Kaya Days tells the story of a young woman's daylong search for her younger brother who has gone missing"--
569.
El cielo sobre el tejado by Nathacha Appanah ES
Description:
Flavie Philipon, Elle Lobo tiene diecisiete años y está siendo trasladado en un furgón de policía a un centro penitenciario para menores por haber provocado un accidente de tráfico: cogió el coche de su madre y condujo durante horas sin tener carnet para reencontrarse con Paloma, su hermana mayor, a la que hace más de diez años que no ve. Cuando se aproximaba a su destino, Lobo se puso nervioso, entró por una calle de sentido contrario y chocó contra otro coche, hiriendo a dos personas. El relato emotivo de ese proyecto de r... continue
570.
Silence of the Chagos by Shenaz Patel EN
Description:
Based on a true, still-unfolding story, Silence of the Chagos is a powerful exploration of cultural identity, the concept of home, and above all the neverending desire for justice. Shenaz Patel draws on the lives of exiled Chagossians in this tragic example of 20th century political oppression. Every afternoon a woman in a red headscarf walks to the end of the quay and looks out over the water, fixing her gaze “back there”: to Diego Garcia, one of the small islands forming the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean. With no explanation, no forewarning, and only an hour to pack their belongings... continue