Inspiring Tales by African Authors: Pages From My Bookshelf

I have written a lot about self-help books. But lately, I have started to look beyond my comfort zone. I think there is something beautiful in reading the words of someone halfway around the world. Someone who has lived a completely different life to you and has walked a different road. Sometimes, self-discovery means exposing yourself to voices and circumstances you’ll never live. That’s why today’s blog serves as a spotlight on books written by African authors that I highly recommend.

The Famished Road by Ben Okri

Ben Okri’s “The Famished Road” is a classic. The narrator, Azaro, is an abiku.  A spirit child who, in the Yoruba tradition of Nigeria, exists between life and death. The life he foresees for himself and the tale he tells is full of sadness and tragedy. Strangely he is born with a smile on his face. He is resurrected before almost being called back to the land of the dead. Azaro’s loving parents are made destitute. In their efforts to save their child. This book is considered a classic and is a true testament to the beauty of books written by African authors.

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

Darling is only ten years old, yet she must navigate a fragile and violent world. In Zimbabwe, Darling and her friends steal guavas, try to get the baby out of young Chipo’s belly and grasp at memories of Before. Before paramilitary policemen destroyed their homes. Prior to schools closing. Before the fathers left for dangerous jobs abroad.

But there is hope. Darling has a chance to escape. She has an aunt in America. She travels to this new land in search of America’s famous abundance. Only to find that her options as an immigrant are perilously few.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Okonkwo is the greatest wrestler and warrior alive, and his fame spreads throughout West Africa like a bush-fire. But when he accidentally kills a clansman, things begin to fall apart. Upon returning from exile, he finds missionaries and colonial governors have arrived in the village. With his world thrown radically off-balance, he can only hurtle toward tragedy.

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

With astonishing empathy and the effortless grace of a natural storyteller, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie weaves together the lives of three characters swept up in the turbulence of the decade. Thirteen-year-old Ugwu is employed as a houseboy for a university professor full of revolutionary zeal. Olanna is the professor’s beautiful mistress, who has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos for a dusty university town and the charisma of her new lover. Richard is a shy young Englishman in thrall to Olanna’s twin sister, an enigmatic figure who refuses to belong to anyone. As Nigerian troops advance and the three must run for their lives, their ideals are severely tested, as are their loyalties to one another.

Epic, ambitious, and triumphantly realized, “Half of a Yellow Sun” is a remarkable novel about moral responsibility, the end of colonialism, ethnic allegiances, class, and race—and the ways in which love can complicate them all.

To browse my full list of books written by African authors visit my Amazon storefront. Let me know in the comments which tales from Africa have captured your heart.