The second installment of Leye Adenle’s Amaka Thrillers series follows the lawyer protagonist as she tracks down the son-in-law of an ultra-powerful political party leader for his deadly assault of a prostitute. Political drama, shambolic elections and questionable police tactics are laid bare, making for a riveting read from the first page to the very end.
Read MoreAma Ata Aidoo’s debut novel testifies to Africa’s problems with relation to Western interference and the predicament in which the continent finds itself today. Through personal observations and conversations, Sissie, the Ghanaian protagonist, delivers a sarcastic and humorous discourse on a myriad of issues ranging from the borrowed Victorian idea of billing strong, outspoken women as unladylike to white saviour-ism.
Read MoreTrevor Noah’s memoir Born a Crime is a funny and insightful account of growing up in pre and post-Apartheid South Africa as a biracial boy and doubles as a paean to his mother, Patricia, whose significant presence in the book marks her undeniable influence over the comedian’s life.
Read MoreAbubakar A. Ibrahim explores love, friendship, loss, sexism and violence in his debut novel Season of Crimson Blossoms, a story about a widowed, middle-aged teacher and her young gangster lover. Set in Northern Nigeria, the novel turns on its head preconceived views of what it means to be a Muslim woman living in a conservative society.
Read MoreBeginning in the seventies, and set in the backdrop of Nigeria’s turbulent military era, this coming-of-age story trails Enitan’s middle class existence from preteen to adulthood as she questions, resists, conforms and mocks gender norms.
Read MoreWritten in 1979, Buchi Emecheta’s The Joys of Motherhood, patriarchy takes a sobering look at societal resistance to women’s shifting roles in pre-independent Nigeria, colonialism’s impact on African culture, and the notion of pregnancy as the ultimate prize and pride of womanhood.
Read MoreThirty-five years after Chinua Achebe published The Trouble with Nigeria, Nigeria continues to grapple with the same problems enumerated in his essay, thanks to poor leadership.
Read MoreElnathan John’s debut novel is a coming-of-age story set in northern Nigeria. Its simple, unembellished prose is narrated by Dantala, the smart, inquisitive street kid and Islamic scholar, and presents a convincing picture of how poverty, corruption and brutality perpetrated by security forces have bred disaffection and insurgency groups in the country.
Read MoreOkey Ndibe’s memoir derives its comical title from a string of advice an uncle had given Ndibe on the eve of his maiden voyage to America. “And the first thing to remember is this: Never look an American in the eye… They take it as an insult,” the uncle intones. “If they catch you, a stranger, looking them in the face, they will shoot.”
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