Synopses & Reviews
The latest addition to the Penguin African Writers Series: the great Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiongos powerful fictional critique of capitalism One of the cornerstones of Ngugi wa Thiongos fame, Devil on the Cross was written in secret, on toilet paper, while Ngugi was in prison. It tells the tragic story of Wariinga, a young woman who moves from a rural Kenyan town to the capital, Nairobi, only to be exploited by her boss and later by a corrupt businessman. As she struggles to survive, Wariinga begins to realize that her problems are only symptoms of a larger societal malaise and that much of the misfortune stems from the Western, capitalist influences on her country. An impassioned cry for a Kenya free of dictatorship and for African writers to work in their own local dialects, Devil on the Cross has had a profound influence on Africa and on post-colonial African literature.
Review
“Unparalleled as a chronicler of elemental change.”
—The Guardian
“It has the rare qualities of restraint, intelligence and sensitivity.” —The Times Literary Supplement
“A sensitive novel about the Gikuyu in the melting pot that sometimes touches the grandeur of tap-root simplicity.” —The Guardian
Review
“One of our centurys great novels.”
—Tribune
“Ngugi is the most celebrated of African novelists. What he offers is nothing less than a new direction for African writing.” —British Book News
“Striking.” —The Guardian
Review
“Beautifully compact . . . It takes its reader on a journey out of the colonial matrix and into the world of the real, showing us life reclaimed in all its complexity from the simplifying template of colonialism. . . . It has an undeniable power.” —
Uzodinma Iweala, from the Introduction
“Unparalleled as a chronicler of elemental change.” —The Guardian
“It has the rare qualities of restraint, intelligence and sensitivity.” —The Times Literary Supplement
“A sensitive novel about the Gikuyu in the melting pot that sometimes touches the grandeur of tap-root simplicity.” —The Guardian
Synopsis
The Nobel Prize nominated Kenyan writer sbest-known novel
Set in the wake of the Mau Mau rebellion and on the cusp of Kenya's independence from Britain, A Grain of Wheatfollows a group of villagers whose lives have been transformed by the 1952 1960 Emergency. At the center of it all is the reticent Mugo, the village's chosen hero and a man haunted by a terrible secret. As we learn of the villagers' tangled histories in a narrative interwoven with myth and peppered with allusions to real-life leaders, including Jomo Kenyatta, a masterly story unfolds in which compromises are forced, friendships are betrayed, and loves are tested.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-datetranslations by award-winning translators."
Synopsis
Barack Obama, via Facebook "A compelling story of how the transformative events of history weigh on individual lives and relationships." The Nobel Prize-nominated Kenyan writer's best-known novel, featuring an introduction by Nobel Prize winner Abdulrazak Gurnah
Set in the wake of the Mau Mau rebellion and on the cusp of Kenya's independence from Britain, A Grain of Wheat follows a group of villagers whose lives have been transformed by the 1952-1960 Emergency. At the center of it all is the reticent Mugo, the village's chosen hero and a man haunted by a terrible secret. As we learn of the villagers' tangled histories in a narrative interwoven with myth and peppered with allusions to real-life leaders, including Jomo Kenyatta, a masterly story unfolds in which compromises are forced, friendships are betrayed, and loves are tested.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Synopsis
The best-known novel by the great Kenyan writer
Set in the wake of the Mau Mau rebellion and on the cusp of Kenya's independence from Britain, A Grain of Wheat follows a group of villagers whose lives have been transformed by the 1952–1960 Emergency. At the center of it all is the reticent Mugo, the village's chosen hero and a man haunted by a terrible secret. As we learn of the villagers' tangled histories in a narrative interwoven with myth and peppered with allusions to real-life leaders, including Jomo Kenyatta, a masterly story unfolds in which compromises are forced, friendships are betrayed, and loves are tested.
Synopsis
A 50th-anniversary edition of one of the most powerful novels by the great Kenyan author and Nobel Prize contender
A legendary work of African literature, this moving and eye-opening novel lucidly captures the drama of a people and culture whose world has been overturned. The River Between explores life in the mountains of Kenya during the early days of white settlement. Faced with a choice between an alluring new religion and their own ancestral customs, the Gikuyu people are torn between those who fear the unknown and those who see beyond it.
About the Author
NGUGI WA THIONGO is an award-winning novelist, playwright, and essayist from Kenya whose novels have been translated into more than thirty languages. He is Distinguished Professor of English at the University of California, Irvine. He lives in Irvine, California.
BINYAVANGA WAINAINA has written for the New York Times, Granta, and Vanity Fair and directs the Chinua Achebe Center for African Writers and Artists at Bard College. He won the 2002 Caine Prize for African Writing and was named by Time magazine one of the Time 100: The Most Influential People in the World in 2014.