Thursday, September 06, 2012

The 10 best contemporary African books

Ellah Wakatama Allfrey is the deputy editor of Granta Magazine.

At The Observer, she named the ten best contemporary African books, including:
Lyrics Alley
Leila Aboulela (2010)

Set in mid-50s, pre-independence Sudan, Aboulela’s third novel takes us on a journey to Egypt and postwar Britain as we follow the life of Nur, the cosmopolitan son of a powerful businessman, who finds his dreams dashed following an accident. This is also the story of the conflict between Nur’s traditional mother and the city-bred Egyptian co-wife whose arrival threatens the stability of the family. Though set mostly in the world of the northern Sudanese, Aboulela’s gentle, poetic prose is a perfect counterpoint to the time of turmoil and upheaval she chronicles.
Read about another book on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue