This is the play that was responsible for Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o being detained without trial (which was the impetus behind his book entitled Detained: A Writer’s Prison Diary), and Ngũgĩ wa Mĩriĩ... Read more »
This novel tells the story of a woman named Pelagueya Nilovna, known throughout the book as “the mother”, who comes into political consciousness through the political activities of her son. With her... Read more »
Devil on the Cross is an intricate novel centered on a big feast called “The Devil’s Feast” by a group of student activists who want to expose the true nature of “A... Read more »
Matigari ma Njirũũngi (which means in Gĩkũyũ “the patriots who survived the bullets”—the patriot who survived the liberation war, and their political offspring), descends the mountains victorious after fighting in the long independence... Read more »
Doyen Cheikh Tidiane Sall had decided to resign not because of complicity but because he, like the President, was in his eighties. He was as mystified as the rest of his cabinet... Read more »
Magical realism drives this mammoth novel set in the imaginary African country of Aburiria. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o roots this fantasy in the brutal horror of neocolonialism. His ridicule of the powerful knows... Read more »
A Grain of Wheat portrays several characters in a village whose intertwined lives are transformed by the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya. The action follows the village’s arrangements for Uhuru (independence) Day... Read more »
When the ex-mistress of a sinister cocaine wholesaler takes a job as secretary to a Native American clairvoyant who works the TV talk show circuit, she begins transcribing an ancient manuscript that... Read more »
The puzzling murder of three African directors of a foreign-owned brewery sets the scene for this hard-hitting novel about disillusionment in neocolonial Kenya. While Ngũgĩ’s novels are generally set in Kenya, Ngũgĩ... Read more »