Fictional books about/from Africa!

[Frenemy]

Hi!

 

I need help to find books about Africa. I'm done with ALL of the Wilbur Smith-books, and I have even read some of them twice. I'm in desperate need of something new.

I realize that I will never find something that can match Wilbur's books - but I need something new. I love the country, the african people and in general everything about the place - so I just need something about that.

 

Do any of you know about such books? The closer to Wilbur, the better - but I'll take anything.

 

Hoping for help!

[Chrissy]

Hello frenemy and welcome to the forum.

 

There are a number of African writers that I have read and can recommend; 'Things Fall Apart' by Chinua Achebe, 'The River Between' by Ngugi Wa Thiongoand anything byBen Okri. They may not be Wilbur Smith'ish but all three write wonderfully.

 

Off the top of my head there is also

 

Alexander McCall Smith has written lots of books with Africa as it's central location.

Karen Blixen's'Out Of Africa'.

 

A useful tool to use would be something like Literature Map, where you jot the name of your favoured author in the box, and it will come back with similarly styled / themed writers, or that's the theory! The links for the authors lead to fantasticfiction, a great site that also will show you author recommendations, and authors that were looked at in conjunction with the one you're viewing ~ a handy addition!

 

I know there are hundreds and thousands more, but my brain is sluggish today, and I'm out of ideas. Good luck.

[Frenemy]

Hello frenemy and welcome to the forum.

 

There are a number of African writers that I have read and can recommend; 'Things Fall Apart' by Chinua Achebe, 'The River Between' by Ngugi Wa Thiongoand anything byBen Okri. They may not be Wilbur Smith'ish but all three write wonderfully.

 

Off the top of my head there is also

 

Alexander McCall Smith has written lots of books with Africa as it's central location.

Karen Blixen's'Out Of Africa'.

 

A useful tool to use would be something like Literature Map, where you jot the name of your favoured author in the box, and it will come back with similarly styled / themed writers, or that's the theory! The links for the authors lead to fantasticfiction, a great site that also will show you author recommendations, and authors that were looked at in conjunction with the one you're viewing ~ a handy addition!

 

I know there are hundreds and thousands more, but my brain is sluggish today, and I'm out of ideas. Good luck.

 

 

Thank you so much! You were of great help. Off to the bookstore now!

[Books do furnish a room]

One of my favourites is Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Adichie. Set in Nigeria in the 1960s

[poppy]

I second Out of Africa. Although non-fiction, you may enjoy The Flame Trees of Thirka by Elspeth Huxley which tells of her childhood in Kenya.

 

This is the review from Amazon

 

In 1913, at the age of six, Elspeth Huxley accompanied her parents from England to their recently acquired land in Kenya, "a bit of El Dorado my father had been fortunate enough to buy in the bar of the Norfolk hotel from a man wearing an Old Etonian tie." The land is not nearly what its seller claimed, but Elspeth's parents are undaunted and begin their coffee plantation. Her mother, a resourceful, adventurous woman, "eager always to extract from every moment its last drop of interest or pleasure," keeps an eye on Elspeth's education but also allows her extensive freedom. Through Elspeth Huxley's marvelous gift for description, early twentieth-century Kenya comes alive with all the excitement and naive insight of a child who watches with eyes wide open as coffee trees are planted, buffaloes are skinned, pythons are disemboweled, and cultures collide with all the grace of runaway trains. With a free-wheeling imagination and a dry wit, she describes the interactions of Kikuyus, Masais, Dutch Boers, Brits and Scots, mixing rapid-fire descriptions with philosophical musings. It is a mixture that suits her land of contrasts and unknowns, where vastly different peoples live and work side by side but rarely come together, like an egg beater whose "the two arms whirled independently and never touched, so that perhaps one arm never knew the other was there; yet they were together, turned by the same handle, and the cake was mixed by both."