Dance with a Poor Man's Daughter, 1997, Pamela Jooste *****

Dance with a Poor Man's daughter is the story of one of the "coloured" families forced to relocate from the Cape Town area known as District Six in South Africa during apartheid, told through the eyes of a little girl. 

District 6 Memorial Plaque

ALL WHO PASS

Remember the thousands of people who lived for generations in district six and were forced by law to leave their homes because of the colour of their skins. Remember St. Mark's Church and the community who resisted the destruction of district six. -Hands Off District Six Campaign 11.2.1989

Lily lives with her grand mother, her aunt Stella and uncle Gus-Seep (that is how she calls and spells his name). Her mother Gloria left for Johannesburg because the valley is too small for her. Lily loves her grandmother more than she loves her mother, which she makes clear.

'You don't always like your mother as much as you would like to, do you Lily?' he says and I don't even have to answer him because he knows it's true.

The Group Area Act is approved, Lily and her family are forced to leave their house and move to the flats. Her mother, from Johannesburg hears what is going on and decides to fight in order to make sure that the house where  six to

Disgrace, 1999, J.M. Coetzee *****

David Lurie (white South African) has sexual intercourse with one of his students, Melanie. To say it is consensual is hard, due to the unequal power relationship between both parties. Professor and student. He is expelled. Following the scandal, he visits his grown up daughter in the country side, where she "farms". While he is there, they are attacked by some black South Africans in their own house, something terrible happens. Another scandal, How will he survive this time? The two of them alone in

The Book of Negroes, 2007, Lawrence Hill *****

Aminatta Diallo born in Bayo, a small village in Western Africa, while returning from attending to a woman in labour with her mother she is abducted and sold into slavery at the age of eleven.

Her journey begins with the long walk towards the coast of West Africa to be shipped to the Americas. She survives the long walk and the sea, however she witnesses how her people were being dehumanised .

On her arrival, she is sold to the owner of an indigo plantation. Luckily, she reconnects with Chekura, a young boy with whom she walked the long walk and sailed the sea. They fall in love and try to form a family. The question here is, how do you really form a family when the law turns you into someone's property.

Her husband Chekura is sent away, she is resold and separated from her

Ama: A Story Of The Atlantic Slave Trade, 2000, Manu Herbstein ****

Ama is a historical fiction that narrates on the transatlantic slave trade, following the coming of age of a young girl from her village where she is kidnapped and raped, to Brazil.

Ama, her first name is Nandzi. She is captured when she is taking care of her brother alone in her village, sold into the Ashanti Empire, fell in love  with the king and re-sold again. Turned into a sexual companion to one of the old Dutch, against her will, though it kept her away from the dungeon. One situation led to another, she found herself sailing in the ship The Love of Liberty on her way to be sold again in Barbados for the 3rd or 4th time.

In The Love of Liberty, she witnesses the reckless death of her colleagues, how

Waiting for an Angel, 2003, Helon Habila *****

This novel started with Lomba in prison, a political detainee in total loss of hope. Upon that, his prison superintendent punishes him for clandestinely writing poetry. How dare he! In the process of his punishment, he discovers that he is, actually, a good love writer. Why not take advantage of his writing skills? After all, he is only a prisoner and has no choice. At that moment, Lomba has been in prison for two years still awaiting trial.

Two years before: Lomba a brilliant and creative student looks forward to being a novelist. In one of his University outings he visits a fortune-teller with his friends and he is particularly told that prison is all that is seen ahead of him. He shrugs it off. Later on, his room mate Bola (brother-like), loses all of his family member in a fatal car accident, so stressed out that he ran mad. Simultaneously, riots along with military brutality are in high gear in their university. And then  the strike. Lomba drops out. As a result loses contact with the girl he dearly loves.

I also promised to meet you the next day when I left you in the morning, a happy smile on your face. I had a happy smile too. we were not to meet again for over three years- because my friend went mad, because of the riots, because I dropped out of school because of many things. what was a mere promise in the face of all these cataclysms?

Yes they met three years later but in different circumstances. As a university dropout, life becomes miserable, no jobs, his country Nigeria is under a military dictatorship. James Fiki a magazine editor hires him as a reporter and makes it clear that there is no future for novelists in their country. None of his novel would ever get published, even if it was, no body would buy it in the country since the majority of the population are starving and it would not make it out of their borders since they are being sanctioned by the international community due to the state of their government. Lomba had to conform as a  magazine reporter ( at least he is writing at all) which finally led to his illegal detention, anyway.

Waiting for an Angel is an outstanding and striking novel, its narrative is in form of interlinked short stories. Which could as well stand independently. Helon Habila actually won the Caine Prize in 2001 with one of them. I find it creative as it is written in the first person narrative through different voices with an author who is omniscient. This novel is nothing short of meritorious. Highly recommended. Lastly, I have this inkling that the writer is mostly referring to his own experience in this novel. All the same, I look forward to reading more of his works.

One of my favourite quotes from this novel among others, in this case when referring to the prison superintendent:

He was just Man. Man in his basic, rudimentary state, easily moved by powerful emotions like love, lust, anger, greed and fear, but totally dumb to the finer, acquired emotions like pity, mercy, humour and justice.

Let me also add, that this novel is the 2003 Commonwealth Writers' Prize: Best First Book, in Africa. Another addition to my challenge.

                  

The Clothes of Nakedness, 1998, Benjamin Kwakye **

This novel came up on my radar as part of my reading challenge since it won the literary award Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book in Africa 1999. Apart from that, I had previously fell in love with an interview the writer gave to one of my fellow blogger, which encouraged me to want to read his works, which as well moved me to get in touch with him. His books were in my TBR list for a longtime before I at last purchased one "The Clothes of Nakedness", I am glad I did not buy all of them. I can be an impulsive book buyer sometimes!

Mystique Mysterious, a stranger finds a job for Bukhari on the condition that he would  receive fifteen to twenty percent of his monthly salary. Bukhari, finding out last minute did not object. Not only that, this stranger also persuaded him to be unfaithful to his wife, persuaded him to stay out late and drink, persuaded him to squander his money and pay little or no attention to his wife and son. I wonder why Bukhari should give in to such persuasiveness. It goes with out saying that it is the beginning of his downfall. Though, the whole incident is so surreal to me.

In my opinion, this novel leaves a lot to be desired. Perhaps, it's just me. I read a lot and have suddenly started expecting more from writers. Which does not mean that I need a novel to be read along with a dictionary. I simply take two things into consideration; storyline and narrative. It might seem simple, however, it is not a task many writers seem to accomplish. How strong is your storyline and how well can you put it into writing engagingly? I think that is what make up an interesting read and as a matter of fact, also make a distinguished writer.

Back to my review of The Clothes of Nakedness, the book was well written, however the storyline was flimsy. The writer created characters that accepted without question whatever that is thrown onto them however implausible it may seem. I know it is fiction, nevertheless, I believe there should be a certain amount of realism in the story being told.

The Rape Of Sita, 1993, Lindsey Collen ****

Evidently, this novel narrates on the "Rape of Sita"; however it is not just the "Rape of Sita" per se. It is also, essentially, about the oppression of the Mauritians during the British colonization.

A story about the struggle of generations of Mauritians to regain their freedom and peace of mind from the scourge of colonization. Sita was one woman determined to be part of that history. Although, she was raped by a family friend under weird circumstances. The story is mainly based on how she moved along without doubting her own integrity. How she survived such terrible experience in a society where everyone else is mentally raped.

"The Rape of Sita"  was told through the voice of a male character, who knows Sita so well; I assume, since he narrated on the incident in detail. Though, he was not involved in committing the offense. Additionally, he tends to address the reader directly, which could be a pet hate.

"Here is the first dilemma, dear reader. Should she have gone to the Seychelles at all? Can a person know what will happen as a result of this decision to go to a conference?"

I guess readers should have the liberty to reach their own conclusion without being constantly asked to take a minute to reflect on a particular issue. Again, I am sure the writer purposely wanted to narrate her story that way. Apart from that, it is a novel poetically and beautifully written, no gory details of the horrific event. I recommend.
I came across it because it is part of my Commonwealth Writers Prize for Africa Region Winners Reading Challenge. It won the 1994 Commonwealth Writers' Prize: Best Book, Africa. And I must say that it deserves the Prize. First novel ever read set in Mauritius.
Linsey Collen, born in South Africa is known as a Mauritian novelist whose works have twice won the Commonwealth Writers Prize as Best Book Africa.

Furthermore, another novel I have read that primarily narrates on rape is Lucky by Alice Sebold, a non-fiction. Quite a troubling read, indeed. However, rape in "The Rape of Sita" was approached in a totally different way.

Finally, I'd recommend you read A Rant on Misrepresentation of Rape in Literature by Amy on Amy Reads, one blogger, whose posts I follow often. Though, I must say that "The Rape of Sita" do not belong to any of the three categories mentioned in the post.

Please, let me know your thoughts if you've read this novel.

Say You're One of Them, 2008, Uwem Akpan ****

Let me start with saying that this novel won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book in Africa 2009. Therefore, it is part of my Commonwealth reading challenge. Please click here for  more info. "Say You're One of Them" consist of five independent stories, two of which actually a novella, told from the perspective of  African children. 

First Story An EX-mas Feast (Kenya) is a short story told from the voice of a very young boy whose poverty-stricken family lived in a slum in Kenya. His eldest sister, only twelve, had to work in the street in order to provide for herself and the rest of her family.

Fattening for Gabon (Benin), one of the novellas, also by a child who narrated on the experience of his uncle's intentions of trafficking with them. Hence, began the brainwashing for the Gabon trip. However, as events unfolded, the whole plan kind of fell to the ground. I found it quite long before I realised it was not a typical short story but a novella then I began to understand.

What Language Is That? (Ethiopia), is the story of two girls who were respectively a Christian and a Muslim. Though, it was no deterrent for them to become best of friends. However, after a religious conflict in their neighbourhood, their parents began being sceptical of their seeing each other. But what can they do to avoid it?

Luxurious Hearses (Nigeria), one of my favourites. It is the never-ending story of the religious crisis that afflicts the country. Jubril was born a catholic but he grew up into a radical Muslim with his mother in the North of Nigeria. All the same, he was never found committed enough to the religion because he was baptised at birth in the South. In order to prove his loyalty and devotion to the Islamic religion  he had to offer his hand to be cut off as sign of acceptance of the sharia law. Nevertheless, when the religious crisis erupted, it was still not enough; therefore, he had to flee with the southern Christian refugees to the South. There again, in order to survive the long trip among angry Christians in a bus, he had to act as one of them. Quite interesting and thought provoking.

Lastly, My Parents Bedroom (Rwanda), was the short story shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2007. Set in Rwanda civil war. The voice of a nine year old girl, whose parents were respectively a Hutu and a Tutsi, narrates her plight during the genocide among the two ethnic groups. How do children know which sides to take in a war like this? Quite a disturbing read.

In my opinion, this novel is not for the faint-hearted. However, it goes without saying that Uwem Akpan is an incredible creative writer who writes beautifully. I recommend. 

Cry a Whisper, 1993, Lucy Safo ***

Akwesi Agyeman a wealthy farmer and trader is captured and sold into slavery when he is going about his business in the nearby villages, after his mother dissuaded him from taking in  a second wife. His trip from the coast of West Africa to a stopover in Liverpool is horrendous, as they were easily slaughtered and thrown into the sea at the slightest stirring of rebellion. Moreover, he is transferred to Kingston (today's Jamaica) on his arrival, where he is involved with a white woman, whose loathsome father is the owner of Richmond Groove where he is forced into hard labour.

After many years of slavery Akwesi Agyeman finally finds himself sailing back to his village in the West African coast. He discovered that a lot has taken place since his kidnapping. Furthermore, to make matters worse he learnt that his enslavement is in fact carefully planned by someone in his household.

"Cry a Whisper" is an interesting historical fiction on the transatlantic slave trade in spite of all the horrific act carried out upon the people of Africa. Lucy Safo did a good job with her debut novel.

I was taken aback as most of the  events unfold unpredictably, to the degree of not understanding some of the interrelationship. All in all, I highly recommend, especially if you would like to have an insight into the transatlantic slave trade.

This novel is the winner of 1994 Commonwealth Writers' Pize: First Book Africa and; therefore, part of my reading challenge.

Grief Child, 1991, Lawrence Darmani ***

Adu, a happy preteen boy lived with his family in Susa, a village located in the South of Ghana. His father was a kind and humble farmer while his mother was a hardworking housewife who sometimes helped her husband on the farm. They were very well cherished by all the villagers. However, in a matter of two months, Adu's life drastically had a turn of a hundred and eighty degrees as he tragically lost his whole family members. Following that, he was forced to moved in with his only aunt, who was uncaring and pitiless. He suffered so much in the hands of his aunt to the degree of wanting to put an end to his life. Fortunately, he failed as he remembered what a Christian friend once told him.

"God is able to change even the worst situation to something better. Your father wants you to live, he wants you to live for him. His life is ended but yours is not"

So, even though,

"The pain in his body was at present as real as his hatred for his aunt. But he wanted to live".

"Grief Child" is an inspirational story of a young boy incontinent with grief. Whose faith in Christianity helped him in overcoming obstacles after losing all of his family members. A well written novel that won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for best first book Africa in 1992. As most of you already know, count it part of my reading challenge. Please click here for more info. All the same, it was not a novel that I particularly enjoyed. A YA Christian fiction that I would recommend mostly to young people who are going through difficulties and are bereft of hope.

The Shadow of a Smile, 2009, Kachi A. Ozumba ***

Zuba's father left his job as a University Professor and decided to open a school. He employed a school principal, who together with her husband, a retired military were wolves in sheep's clothing. They dragged him to his deathbed. Due to his delicate health, his son was obliged to take over the management of the school. Zuba, as the new head of school decided to sack the principal when he discovered her  malicious intentions. However, he found himself sinking in a quagmire.

Firstly, she threatened him and demanded for a huge amount of money that she did not deserve. Upon Zuba's refusal, they made up a story whereby he was eventually accused of robbery and theft. Consequently, he was arrested and taken into custody by the police.

This novel mainly narrates Zuba's plight in prison. How he found himself trapped in his country's legal system rife with corruption. Where Guilty or Not Guilty was a matter of "how-much-are-you-ready-to-bribe-the-police?" The whole novel was mostly about Zuba vainly trying to put the record straight in order to leave the prison.

"The Shadow of a Smile" was well written and an easy read, you know it is not the type you annoyingly come across grammatical errors every now and then. I liked it. Some of the settings were in my home town Ogidi and the characters were Igbos like me. Everything sounded so familiar. However, it was not a novel I thoroughly enjoyed. I had the feeling it lacked somethings that could have made it more enjoyable and interesting, you know the type that keeps you hunger looking forward for more; hence the three stars. All the same, it was a good read.

Finally, I recommend, especially if you would like to find out what it feels like to be in a prison in Nigeria. Kachi A. Ozumba is a Nigerian writer, winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize (Africa) 2009. This is his first novel. In my opinion he is quite promising and I would not hesitate to read more of his works in the future.

Commonwealth Writers Prize for Africa Region Winners Reading Challenge

Today, my birthday 6th of September, I have at long last officially made up my mind to join Geosireads and ImageNation in the challenge of reading all the Commonwealth Writers Winners for Africa Region. Although, I have no time limit in achieving this goal.

This Prize is divided into three categories: Commonwealth Writers' Prize: Best Book, Commonwealth Writers' Prize: Best First Book,  and Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Nonetheless, I would only be reading books in the first two categories. Please click here to read more about the Commonwealth Writers. Books read are rated and linked to their reviews.

Commonwealth Writers' Prize: Best Book, Africa

2011 – The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna (Sierra Leone) 3*

2010 - The Double Crown by Marié Hesse (South Africa)

2009 – The Lost Colours of the Chameleon by Mandla Langa (South Africa)

2008 – The Hangman’s Game by Karen King-Aribisala (Nigeria)
Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book Overall (2008) The Book of Negroes (Canada) 5*
2007 – The Native Commissioner by Shaun Johnson (South Africa)

2006 – The Sun by Night by Benjamin Kwakye (Ghana)

2005 – Boy by Lindsey Collen (South Africa)

2004 – The Good Doctor by Damon Galgut (South Africa)

2003 – The Other Side of Silence by Andre Brink (South Africa)

2002 – The Pickup by Nadine Gordimer (South Africa)

2001 – The Heart of Redness by Zakes Mda (Soutth Africa)

2000 – Disgrace by J.M Coetzee (South Africa) 5*

1999 – If You Can Walk, You Can Dance by Marion Molteno (South Africa)

1998 – Walking Still by Charles Mungoshi (Zimbabwe)

1997 – Under the Tongue by Yvonne Vera (Zimbabwe)

1996 – No Selection Made

1995 – The Master of Petersburg by J.M Coetzee (South Africa)

1994 – The Rape of Sita by Lindsey Collen (Mauritius) 4*

1993 – Tides by Isidore Okpewho (Nigeria)

1992 - Changes by Ama Ata Aidoo (Ghana) 5*

1991 – The Last Harmattan of Alusine Dunbar by Syl Cheney-Coker (Sierra Leone)

1990 – Harvest of Thorns by Shimmer Chinodya (Zimbabwe)

1989 – Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe)

1988 - Heroes by Festus Iyayi (Nigeria) 4*

1987

• Incidents at the Shrine by Ben Okri (Nigeria)
• A Forest of Flowers by Ken Saro-Wiwa (Nigeria) (Runner-up)

Commonwealth Writers' Prize: Best First Book, Africa

2011 – Happiness is a Four-Letter Word by Cynthia Jele (South Africa)

2010 - I Do Not Come to You by Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani (Nigeria) 4*

2009 – Say You’re One of Them by Uwem Akpan (Nigeria) 4*

2008 – Imagine This by Sade Adeniran (Nigeria) 4*

2007 – All We Have Left Unsaid by Maxine Case (South Africa)

2006 – Tropical Fish: Stories from Entebbe by Doreen Baingana (Uganda) 4*

2005 – Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria) 3*

2004 – Gardening at Night by Diane Awerbuck (South Africa)

2003 – Waiting for an Angel by Helon Habila (Nigeria)

2002 – Ama by Manu Herbstein (South Africa) 4*

2001 – Thirteen Cents by K Sello Duiker (South Africa)

2000 – The Legend of the Rockhills and Other Stories by Funso Aiyejina (Nigeria)

1999 – The Clothes of Nakedness by Benjamin Kwakye (Ghana) 2*

1998 – Dance with a Poor Man’s Daughter by Pamela Jooste (South Africa) 5*

1997 – At the Edge and Other Cato Manor Stories by Ronnie Govender (South Africa)

1996 – Winds of Change by Dene Coetzee (South Africa)

1995 – The River and the Source by Margaret A. Ogola (Kenya)

1994 – Cry a Whisper by Lucy Safo (Ghana) 3*

1993 – The Price of Liberty by Paul Conton (Sierra Leone)

1992 - Grief Child by Lawrence Darmani (Ghana) 3*

1991 – Our Wife and Other Stories by Karen King-Aribisala (Nigeria)

1990 – The Gunny Sack by M.G Vassanji (Kenya)

1989 – No Selection Made

** From 2012 to 2013 the award was restructured , it only composed of two Prizes instead of three. First Prize was for best first book and the second Prize was for best short stories.

2013 - Sterile Sky by E.E Sule (Nigerian)
2012 - The Dubious Salvation of Jack V by Jacques Strauss (South Africa)

** As from 2014 Commonwealth Writers will no longer offer the Commonwealth Book Prize.

Tropical Fish: Tales From Entebbe, 2005, Doreen Baigana ****

"Tropical Fish" narrates the story of three Ugandan sisters, who were from Entebbe's upper middle class until the death of their father as a result of his drunkenness. Rosa, the eldest sister, was promiscuous, she died of AIDS. Patti the middle sister, turned into a born again christian. And Christine the youngest went to Los Angeles, came back eight years later to pick up a job amidst the struggles of discovering her inner self.
Accounts of their lives during Idi Amin regime was as well narrated on. A regime famous for giving  the people of Indian descent in Uganda 72 hours to leave the country.

Actually, Christine's story was what made me buy this novel. I read part of her story in "African Love Stories". How she was indulged in a kind of weird carefree sexual relationship with a white man in Uganda. Not even when she was pregnant of his child. I wonder if that was love or what? However, I found myself still confuse after reading the purchased novel.

Moreover, Tropical Fish was not narrated straightforwardly as one might expect. Instead, it only covered certain periods of the lives of the three sisters, that is, some specific aspects of their lives. From there on, as a reader, we were expected to make the connections ourselves. Not that it was a difficult task, just that I found the style somewhat peculiar. I hope you aren't getting the wrong end of the stick because Doreen Baingana is  a creative writer. I guess I was expecting the novel to sweep me off my feet and it did not. Perhaps, it is just me not the novel, considering the fact it won many important awards, the Commonwealth Writer's Prize one of them, as Best First Book Africa 2006. All the same, I must confess that in my opinion, it was not up to four stars, it was somewhere between 3.5 and 3.75. It left me slightly disappointed.

Please click here to read reviews of other novels that have won the Commonwealth Writer's Prize.

Imagine This, 2007, Sade Adeniran ****

A diary entry of Lola Ogunwole, born in England, abandoned by her mother, spent time in foster homes and was finally shipped off to Nigeria with her brother. In Nigeria, she was sent to live in the village with her grandmother while her brother worked like a slave in an uncle's house in the city where he finally kicked the bucket. Lola's life was not any better, only that she did not kick the bucket. In fact, hers was a baptism of fire. Always wretched and hunger-stricken.

She narrates her ordeal in her diary, her plight in the village, in the boarding school and at long last in Lagos. Her father never really cared for her, not even when she lost her only brother. He was hellbent on the fact that the African upbringing experience was absolutely acquired through hardship and pain. In short, nothing good ever happened to Lola. In my opinion the title of this novel should have been "Nothing Good Will Happen" instead of "Imagine This".

Although, I have so far enjoyed novels in epistolary and diary format, "Imagine This" was a bit too much to be in the diary format. The dates were not actually necessary to bear in mind each time you flip through a page. Moreover, a bit of pruning would have done the novel some good. I found Lola re-writing her plight over and again. In spite of that, it was the African Regional Winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book. In addition, I enjoyed the read; though,  it sort of ended in a cliffhanger. I read somewhere that the author is working on the second part of the novel. Hopefully, something good will eventually happen to Lola now that she is a woman.

Finally, it is interesting that stories like this were brought to light. That is, young children that suffer in the name of culture and training. Novels with similar storyline are Powder Necklace by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond  and the award-winning Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Bear in mind that even if there was a good dose of hardship in this novel, it is still a [serious] young adult genre. I would enjoy the second part of the novel more since Lola would be a grown up woman by then.

I recommend.

Heroes, 1986, Festus Iyayi ****

During the the Biafran War, Osime Iyere who was a journalist sided Nigeria. According to him, the Biafran soldiers were rebels, whose main and only purpose were to loot, plunder and destabilise the country. However, after the Nigerian federal troops gruesomely murdered his landlord, he realised it was time to start seeing the war in a new light. Certainly, it was six of one, half a dozen of the other.

Heroes is a reflection of war. Was the (Biafran) war necessary and justifiable? Then, I sincerely ask myself, was there ever a necessary and a justifiable war? The plain truth is "No".

"This is not a war. This is an investment in blood and destruction by those at the helm of affairs with expectation of profit. This war is the great excuse of our natural vices... But in time of war, there are no law, when we misbehave. We are strictly on our own, we are answerable to ourselves then. And see what happens. We loot our neighbour's property, we set fire to his house because we say he is on the other side. We loot, we burn, we rape, we murder, lie and steal. We exhibit our vomit then, we show ourselves up for what we really are. And what we really are is ugly and slimy and poisonous and dark and weak".

Despite the fact that all Nigerians no matter their ethnic groups lived together in harmony, they loved and married among themselves. Suddenly, they started to kill one another, on account of the fact that they were told that a man from one of the ethnic groups, let's say Igbo, who was previously, perhaps a student, a farmer, a worker or simply a trader, was now a rebel and needed to be shot dead. The Igbos were equally told to do vice versa. Sheer madness.

Osime's aim in this novel was to recruit a third army, starting with himself, who could realise that the war was a spiteful one. That certain people in high running positions used the ordinary people against each other for their selfish ends. That the real enemies were neither the Biafran rebels nor the Nigerian soldiers, but the politicians, business men, generals and colonels of both sides. That the war was never for the benefit of the people but to take advantage of them. That the working class were deliberately swindled into the war, so that the ruling class can confortably scavenge with impunity. Unfortunately, the people failed to face up to the facts and instead, they were too eager to massacre themselves, rape each other's women, kill each other's children and destroy each other's homes and farms. Whereas, their respective generals have their family safely kept somewhere outside the country.

Even though Heroes is an erudite work of fiction, it is absolutely an eye-opener and and a great insight into the Nigerian civil war (Biafran war). Suprisingly, I realized that most novels I have read so far regarding the war were written from the view point of the Igbos. For that reason, reading Heroes gave me a whole different perspective. Don't expect a light or heavy reading, but a heart-rending and a sorrowful one that gave love a place. Love in times of war

Festus Iyayi is the first African writer to win the Commonwealth Writer's Prize for Best Book Overall, in 1988. That was how I came about reading his novel. With regards to this Prize, I have a thought to share, which will be posted next week.

Iyayi is also the author of Violence, The Contract and Awaiting Court Martial, of which I look forward to reading. Finally, I would like to know your opinion if you have read any of his novels.

I highly recommend, food for thought.

Changes, A Love Story, 1991, by Ama Ata Aidoo *****

I finished reading this book yesterday, I loved it. It is one of  my favourite books. This is Ama Ata's first book I have read so far and I am really impressed. I am looking forward to reading more. With this novel she won the 1992 CommonWealth Writer's Prize for best book (Africa), she sure deserved it. Aidoo's storyline are like that of Emecheta's (at least this novel) they tell story of women (always in a cultural clash) trying to live according to their heart desires despite their cultural circumstances.

This novel tells the story of a very learned Ghanaian woman called Esi, with a highly demanding job, married to a man out of gratefulness and now considers him time-consuming and at last decided to divorce him after an event she described as "marital rape" took place. Marital rape in a quotation mark because in her culture it is indescribable "Sex is something a husband claims from his wife as his right. Any time. And at his convenience. Besides, any "sane" person, especially sane women, would consider any other women lucky or talented or both, who can make her husband lose his head like that" but still she felt uncomfortable about the whole situation.

She madly fell in love with a married man who decided to make her his second wife, she later discovered that his way of loving is quite inadequate for her, but still she has to find out what type of loving was she ever going to consider adequate.

Esi finds her self in the middle of a cultural clash. None of her people could sympathise with her because she had feelings and desires to live a life that is so incomprehensible to them. Sometimes they (her people) asked themselves what was the whole reason of sending her to school. This is what she was told in one of her conversation with her grandmother; "Not many women are this lucky..... And who told you that feeling grateful to a man is not enough reason to marry him? My lady, the world would die of surprise if every woman openly confessed the true reason why she married a certain man...." And Esi was trying to tell them that love is the sole reason why anyone should get married, she was rebuked "Love is not safe...., love is dangerous.... the last man any woman should think of marrying is the man she loves." I think life is just too hard and too short to spend it with someone you do not love.

Below are some quotes from the book that sent me in a state of reflection;

".....being foolish is a sickness that so many educated people seem to suffer permanently from. Only Allah knows why..." With this quote I clearly felt the tension between Western and African world views.

"....And besides, he knew too well that our passions do not always meet at the same junction with the points of the law."

"...the joy of having children is also sometimes having to forgive them when, after they had done wrong, they come back to say sorry"

 I never knew I could read a novel so fast until I picked up this one. This novel is just so interesting. The writings are like that of a movie script, and I investigated and found out that Aidoo is a play writer as well. This book is just so good to turn into a movie.This a 5 stars book. I highly recommend it.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, 2003, by Mark Haddon *****

I know it's been almost a month since I reviewed my last novel. I have been on summer vacation learning foreign languages, discovering new cities and meeting new people. It's been fun!

I just finished this wonderful novel, I so much loved it and it is one of my favourite books. I borrowed it from a MS/HS Library. It is just amazing, this is one of those books I would love to read later in the future. Mark Haddon wrote a very entertaining book here and I am so glad it worn the 2004 Commonwealth Writer's Prize for Best First Book. I know this does not belong to the African Literature genre, but on my search for next novels to read I came across it, seen that it won the Commonwealth Writer's Prize which quite a good number of African Writers have won as well I decided to give it a try and it was more than entertaining.

It tells the story of a teenage boy called Christopher, with special needs, (his diagnosis was never mentioned in the book, but after a little research I guess it was Asperger Syndrome), while he was investigating the death of a neighbour's dog, he encountered himself in situations where he has to survive alone and take decisions despite his state of health, these experiences made him believe in himself.

This story was told from the voice and the mind of a teenager with an Asperger Syndrome, it is really impossible not to understand what the character was writing about, because this book was written in a very clear and straightforward way, although the Maths problem are a bit difficult to understand from my point of view. This novel could be considered children's fiction but I enjoyed every bit of it and I think any adult would love it too. This is a book I highly recommend, thumbs up to Mark Haddon. I also heard that a movie about this book will be out in the cinemas soon, I hope to see it and I also hope that it will do this book justice.

The Memory of Love, 2010, by Aminatta Forna ***

I finished reading this book May 23rd 2012 to be precise. I liked it. As I said earlier in My Authors and their books I hold  Aminatta Forna (British; Sierra Leonean and Scottish heritage). The Memory of Love 2010 awarded the Commonwealth Prize for Best Book in 2011, shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction in the same year. Shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, with the winner to be announced in June 2012.

This book deserves all the awards, Aminatta Forna has got an innate talent to put words together and to tell stories, what a matured mind. She is naturally good. I admire her. There is nothing ordinary in this work.

However, I did not enjoy the novel, I find it difficult to go through, I had to go through 150 pages before I could start to understand. Aminatta's writings sometimes I found tedious. This is not an easy read, and it is a 500+ pages, this is a book for the matured in mind, not every body could sink into this novel.

The story line is really very beautiful, this is the second book about Sierra Leon I've read so far. It tells  (mostly) the story of a group of people (University teachers, doctor...) how they lived and loved before the war in an independent (corrupt) Sierra Leon, How the war changed them and the consequences of the change after the war. The story line is fantastic. The way it was written I consider too sophisticated.

I recommend this book to the matured in mind.

Please click here to read review in Spanish.

I Do Not Come to You by Chance, 2009, Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani ****

A lot of (positive) reviews about this book, at last I laid my hands on it  in April 2012. I really liked it. It is the author's first novel and it was awarded the 2010 Commonwealth Writers' Prize.

I really doubted whether to give it 4 or 5 stars, at last I decided 4 because part one of the novel was kind of slow (according to my point of view), it narrated all I already know about, most probably because I am from the part of Nigeria where the story took place and I am so use to the culture.

This book tells the story line of most LIFE IN NIGERIA; HOPELESSNESS!!! you see a bit of it reflected in each of all of the 350+ pages. First of all you see how well learned people with their university certificate and post grade and masters certificate just lose their job without any coherent explanation, how the parents of 4 put all their hope on their first son to help them with his siblings- who after university couldn't find a job because he doesn't know anyone with a long leg that would fix him. How women leave the (learned and young) boyfriend they love for another with cash, older and unlearned, how people die of curable disease. How people with university degrees are risking their lives going to Europe, America even Bulgaria (I know it is part of Europe...).

This book tells the story line of how most Nigerians are so desperate to leave their hometown and do things they never expect themselves doing. The 419 Scam was just a way to get the news to the world. I felt lots of sympathy for Kingsley (main character).

Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, being her first novel did a wonderful job. This is a book I highly recommend. It was told in an entertaining way of which I enjoyed. I am waiting for more from Miss Nwaubani.

Purple Hibiscus, 2003, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ***

I read this book after reading Half of a Yellow Sun, Probably my expectation was high. This was my review then:

This book was written from a teenage girl point of view so beware.. if you are not a teenager you might find it boring.... the way she tells the story made it so slow... and I was not a teenager when I read it and I found some of the things she talks about irrelevant to be written down and read by someone else, but on the other hand Half of a Yellow Sun is my favourite of all times!!

I haven't read this book again, but I will abide with my review above. This is more of a teenage novel. It is the story of a girl in her teenage, her abusive religious father and her weak mother.