Book picks similar to
Across The Bridge by Mwangi Gicheru
across-the-bridge
african-writers
1
across
Abyssinian Chronicles
Moses Isegawa - 1998
Mugezi's hard-won observations form a cri de coeur for a people shaped by untold losses.
Sozaboy
Ken Saro-Wiwa - 1985
The author's use of 'rotten English'—a mixture of Nigerian pidgin English, broken English and idiomatic English—makes this a unique and powerful novel.
Efuru
Flora Nwapa - 1966
Flora Nwapa's first novel plants her story firmly in the world of women, where Efuru, beautiful and respected, is loved and deserted by two ordinary, undistinguished husbands.
The Palm-Wine Drinkard & My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
Amos Tutuola - 1952
Drawing on the West African Yoruba oral folktale tradition, Tutuola described the odyssey of a devoted palm-wine drinker through a nightmare of fantastic adventure. Since then, The Palm-Wine Drinkard has been translated into more than 15 languages and has come to be regarded as a masterwork of one of Africa's most influential writers. Tutuola's second novel, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, recounts the fate of mortals who stray into the world of ghosts, the heart of the tropical forest. Here, as every hunter and traveler knows, mortals venture at great peril, and it is here that a small boy is left alone.
Something I Never Told You
Shravya Bhinder - 2018
His one-sided love story moves at a faster pace this time but instead of becoming his lover; she chooses to become his friend instead. He needs a mentor and Rajbir steps in just in time. Something I never told you is a transforming tale of love, determination, belief and finding one’s strengths. Love Notes From Something I Never Told You- # Sometimes I wonder if you and I are the same person. We are a little broken, quite messed up and in love with the idea of love. # Just because of something which happened in the past, do not stop believing in love, do not stop looking for love, do not stop loving. # We were a little more than friends and a little less than lovers. # He gazed into her dark eyes. His soul had finally found the place it needed to rest in. # True love never dies. It sleeps Silently in aching hearts and wakes up on lonely nights. # When I am gone, don't look for me. A part of me will always be with you; you carry my heart in your heart. # Our love filled a space in my heart, space which I did not know even existed. # Your love was like a serene sunset. I was mesmerized beyond words by it before it left me alone in the darkness. # I dream about you way too often for us to be- Just friends. # Looking at you, I think I can write a Love Story. # Little did I know that my feelings for you were seeds when I buried them deep in my heart to forget you- they grew into love. # For long I have not been able to find myself, I am still lost in you.
Notice Me
Emem Uko - 2018
Being the frontman of a popular band in a foreign country? Never in his wildest dreams. Anders finds himself living a cool life but at a price of projecting an effeminate image to the public. His fans love it. They’ve only known him since his makeover after his debut as a singer. They don’t know the manly Anders. But the girl he wants to notice him thinks he’s not her type. Now he has to choose between his public image and his private life. Millions of fans versus one? Their happiness or his happiness?"Emem Uko takes you on a suspense-filled journey on the behind-the-scenes struggles of the lead vocalist of a boy band. A journey of growth, loss and finding a long-needed love. It is music to your ears. You will want it on repeat."
The Polygamist
Sue Nyathi - 2012
Set in modern-day Zimbabwe, the story is narrated through the four female protagonists. Joyce is the legitimate first wife of Jonasi Gomora. She has four kids, a shiny black Mercedes Benz and a life every woman is envious of. Joyce believes she has the perfect marriage until Matipa rears her coiffed head.Matipa is an ambitious, educated high flyer with an eye for the good things in life. She does not want to sit around waiting for a guy to realise his potential, she wants instant gratification, which comes in the form of Jonasi. He personifies everything she wants in a man. And so her driving ambition is usurp Joyce’s role as Jonasi’s wife and lover. Essie is the girl next door from the poverty-stricken township where Jonasi grew up in. She lacks Joyce’s sophistication and Matipa’s intelligence, but she cared for Jonasi long before he became the man he is. So Essie plays the role of second fiddle knowing he’ll always come back to herLindani is a beautiful young girl who has nothing going for her but her greatest assets: her beauty and her body. She hopes this lethal combination will be enough to ensnare the affections of a man who will marry her and leave her taken care of, no longer having to worry about how she’ll keep a solid roof over her head. Then she meets Jonasi and thinks all her problems have been answered, not knowing they have only just begun….Told in a gripping, accessible and somewhat shockingly frank style, Sue Nyathi takes readers on a journey beyond the bedroom door of a polygamous man and his four Mrs Rights. Yet lurking below the surface the question remains: is this kind of marriage practice really legitimate in a society plagued by HIV/Aids? Smart, sassy and sexy, The Polygamist shows that sometimes marriage isn’t what you envisioned – rather than being a secure refuge it can be a battlefield!
The Pleasure of My Company
Steve Martin - 2003
After all, outside there are 8-inch-high curbs and there's always the horrible chance he might see a gas station attendant wearing a blue hat. So, except for the occasional trip to the Rite Aid to admire the California girl Zandy and to buy earplugs because they're on sale, he stays home a lot. And a good thing too, or he would have never been falsely implicated in a murder, never almost seduced Philipa, never done the impossible task of jogging around the block with Brian, never ironed his pillows, and he might never have won the Most Average American essay contest. The Pleasure of My Company is the chronicle of a modern-day neurotic yearning to break free.
The Purple Violet of Oshaantu
Neshani Andreas - 2001
The village knew she was an unhappy wife, but she is still expected to weep and speak the praises of her husband. Her story reveals the value of friendship between women, based on liking rather than traditional beliefs.
The Solace of Leaving Early
Haven Kimmel - 2002
Langston Braverman returns to Haddington, Indiana (pop. 3,062) after walking out on an academic career that has equipped her for little but lording it over other people. Amos Townsend is trying to minister to a congregation that would prefer simple affirmations to his esoteric brand of theology.What draws these difficult—if not impossible—people together are two wounded little girls who call themselves Immaculata and Epiphany. They are the daughters of Langston’s childhood friend and the witnesses to her murder. And their need for love is so urgent that neither Langston nor Amos can resist it, though they do their best to resist each other. Deftly walking the tightrope between tragedy and comedy, The Solace of Leaving Early is a joyous story about finding one’s better self through accepting the shortcomings of others.
Star-Crossed
Minnie Darke - 2019
When childhood sweethearts Justine (Sagittarius and serious skeptic) and Nick (Aquarius and true believer) bump into each other as adults, a life-changing love affair seems inevitable. To Justine, anyway. Especially when she learns Nick is an astrological devotee, whose decisions are guided by the stars, and more specifically, by the horoscopes in his favorite magazine. The same magazine Justine happens to write for. As Nick continues to not fall headlong in love with her, Justine decides to take Nick’s horoscope, and Fate itself, into her own hands. But, of course, Nick is not the only Aquarius making important life choices according to what is written in the stars.Charting the ripple effects of Justine’s astrological meddling, STAR-CROSSED is a delicious, intelligent, and affecting love story about friendship, chance, and how we all navigate the kinds of choices that are hard to face alone.
A Change of Climate
Hilary Mantel - 1994
Set in both the windswept countryside of Norfolk and the violent townships of South Africa, this is a story of what happens when trust is broken, secrets become buried and lives torn apart.
ഒരു സങ്കീര്ത്തനം പോലെ [Oru Sangeerthanam Pole]
Perumbadavam Sreedharan - 1993
It is a story based on the life of famous Russian writer, Fyodor Dostoyevsky and his wife Anna.
Village School
Miss Read - 1955
This is the English village of Fairacre: a handful of thatch-roofed cottages, a church, the school, the promise of fair weather, friendly faces, and good cheer -- at least most of the time. Here everyone knows everyone else's business, and the villagers like each other anyway (even Miss Pringle, the irascible, gloomy cleaner of Fairacre School). With a wise heart and a discerning eye, Miss Read guides us through one crisp, glistening autumn in her village and introduces us to a cast of unforgettable characters and a world of drama, romance, and humor, all within a stone's throw of the school. By the time winter comes, you'll be nestled snugly into the warmth and wit of Fairacre and won't want to leave.
Notwithstanding
Louis de Bernières - 2009
Welcome to the village of Notwithstanding where a lady dresses in plus fours and shoots squirrels, a retired general gives up wearing clothes altogether, a spiritualist lives in a cottage with the ghost of her husband, and people think it quite natural to confide in a spider that lives in a potting shed. Based on de Bernières' recollections of the village he grew up in, Notwithstanding is a funny and moving depiction of a charming vanished England.