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The Teller of Secrets (HarperVia Edition)
In this stunning debut novel—a tale of self-discovery and feminist awakening—a feisty Nigerian-Ghanaian girl growing up amid the political upheaval of late 1960s postcolonial Ghana begins to question the hypocrisy of her patriarchal society, and the restrictions and unrealistic expectations placed on women.
Young Esi Agyekum is the unofficial “secret keeper” of her family, as tight-lipped about her father’s adultery as she is about her half-sisters’ sex lives. But after she is humiliated and punished for her own sexual exploration, Esi begins to question why women’s secrets and men’s secrets bear different consequences. It is the beginning of a journey of discovery that will lead her to unexpected places.
As she navigates her burgeoning womanhood, Esi tries to reconcile her own ideals and dreams with her family’s complicated past and troubled present, as well as society’s many double standards that limit her and other women. Against a fraught political climate, Esi fights to carve out her own identity, and learns to manifest her power in surprising and inspiring ways.
Funny, fresh, and fiercely original, The Teller of Secrets marks the American debut of one of West Africa’s most exciting literary talents.
₵285.00 -
The Daughters of Nandi
As she took her dying breath, Nandi Mhlongo, mother of Shaka kaSenzangakhona, cursed the house of Zulu and her family, the Mhlongos, for the disrespect she endured at their hands. In the ancestral realm, Nandi worries that her malediction may have been rash and too dangerous for the descendants of the two houses. The curse can be undone but it will need a human medium to convey the message to the progeny.
Through three historical periods, three women who are extraordinary in their different ways will seek to get restitution for Nani. Gentle Keeya, a Motswana woman of the House of Moagi who marries one of Nandi’s descendants as the English, the Boers and the Zulu go to the war in the 19th century; Uju, a spirited married woman who carves a space for herself in history during the forced removals of Sophiatown in the 20th century; and in the 21st century Amangwe, who reluctantly joins her fellow students as they speak up against a meaningless freedom during the #FeesMustFall protests.
Will any of these three women manage to ensure Nandi Mhlongo is appeased and if not, what shall be the consequences to the Houses of Mhlongo and Zulu and to the three Daughters of Nandi themselves?
An engaging debut which seamlessly weaves fact, fiction and spiritualities while subverting the way the reader perceives history.
₵100.00The Daughters of Nandi
₵100.00 -
New Currency: A Historical Novella
New Currency: A Historical Novella celebrates Akan social norms and values, particularly the “wonderful feeling of togetherness” and communal living, uniquely associated with the extended family system and invites the reader to be culturally sensitive and to worry about the Ghanaian culture degradation.
Apart from capturing the chilling, historical realities of the 1979 demonetisation, it successfully regains and celebrates the otherwise fading, but precious extended family values.
In the book, the seasoned author chronicles some aspects of the harrowing military rule of 1979, and narrates the ordeal of a woman about to lose an entire lifetime savings. Specifically, it recounts the widespread commotion and hardships associated with the introduction of a new monetary currency in Ghana from March 13–26, 1979.
The historical novella, set in Sunyani, the Brong-Ahafo regional capital in the same year, captures the widespread public despondency and turbulence associated with the exercise.
The book provides some insight into the period of the country’s history for adults who lived through the turbulence of 1979 as a necessary reminder; and to the present-day youth some awareness of the happenings then.
The thrilling lime green-looking book with yellow and white title inscription on the cover, and thinly opaque adinkra symbols – Mpatapo (knot of reconciliation) and Sesa wo suban (change or transform your life), reflects the theme of the book published by Smartline Publishers.
₵35.00 -
Saro
On a visit to the coast of Marina, Lagos, Siwoolu and his young family are lured by a traitor to a grand merchant ship where they are captured by slaveholders masquerading as traders. On the way to the new world, they are rescued by abolitionists on a British naval ship and sent to Freetown, a haven for freed slaves.
They settle in their new home, grow their family, and become successful merchants, trading goods between Freetown and Eko. Dotunu, Siwoolu’s wife, falls in love with another man and is caught in a love triangle. But their lives are upended again when they hear that the kingdom has selected the traitor as king. Siwoolu, content with his new life, yet fearful of a curse that lurks in the shadows, refuses to return, but Dotunu is determined to keep the traitor from the throne. She turns to their son, Oșolu, who is running from his own demons, to seize the throne that is rightfully theirs.
Saro is a multigenerational tale of betrayal and restitution, love and war, inspired by true events that will take the reader from the rocky terrain of Abeokuta and the burgeoning city of Lagos to the lion mountains of Freetown and Hastings of Sierra Leone from the 1830s to the 1850s.
₵110.00Saro
₵110.00 -
A Time to Part
Age Range: 13+ years
The Ayi Kwei Armah Novel 1st Prize” Award Winner, GAW Awards 2018She’s chasing shadows, running from the past. He’ll be there to catch her when she falls.Seven years ago, Jasmine left everything she knew behind. Her mother was dead, her father was terminally ill, and she had broken Hagan, the only man who ever loved her. It was the perfect time to start over. Except she never left any of it behind. When an echo from the past and the search for a killer pull her back into the chaos, she’ll have to decide if letting go is too high a price to pay for her life.This is a story of second chances, of love that survives the worst, and the fight to hold on to the light, in the face of darkness.₵30.00A Time to Part
₵30.00 -
Infinite Roots
“I must tell you my history,” Baba would roar, “the history you learn at school is not better than that which I have to tell you. My history concerns you directly, it is who you are, what you are, and what you’re going to become.”
“…woven in an unbroken thread of prose…in a complex, digressive narrative that is like a set of Chinese boxes (or those Russian Matryoshka dolls), one laid inside another.” — Literary Review
Infinite Roots follows the multi-generational story of a Ghanaian military family, composed through the eyes of a young daughter learning about her history and culture through the many stories of her parents and elders. This autobiographical novel spreads out across the 60s and 80s Ghana as the military family journeys from Wa to Tamale to Accra to Kumasi to Takoradi to Ho and more. As the young girl grows, she also begins to share her own re-tellings as her elders once did.
“…it is an incredible survey of Ghanaian traditions, customs, superstitions and beliefs, as well as social and political history and the emergence of female education.” — Lee Oliver
₵80.00₵100.00Infinite Roots
₵80.00₵100.00 -
We Won’t Budge
Part autobiographical, part social commentary, this is a powerful and insightful look at the situation of border intellectuals at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
In this searing memoir, Manthia Diawara revisits his early years as an emigrant in love with Swedish girls and Western rock and roll music, taking us from the nightclubs of his hometown Bamako to the cafes of Boulevard Montparnasse and the black neighbourhoods of 1970s Washington DC, USA.
This book is about the developed world – that is the former colonisers of the African continent now busy slamming shut its doors to African and Arab immigrants.
It is also about human rights violations and racism against people of colour. Diawara writes that he wanted to give a human face to African immigration in today’s global world. He describes the reasons why many Africans leave the continent – such as poverty, persecution and lack of opportunities – and writes sometimes angrily and sometimes very movingly, about their predicament in Europe and the US, where they are caught between their traditions and the West’s vacuous modernity.
“With humour and the intimacy of a conversatonal tone, Diawara writes of the ‘global’ African as a nomad at the mercy of whirlwinds of economic and political dislocation at home and racism and intolerance abroad. He is not at home in his country; he is not at home abroad. But the nomad refuses to bow down to those whirlwinds, to let evil turn him around, and against all the odds becomes an active contributor to the multiculture of the globe. This is the story of a diasporic soul that finds home in its own resilience and in so may ways it is all our story.” – Ngugi wa Thiong’o (Author of A Grain of Wheat et al)
“We Won’t Budge is destined to become a classic – it is one of the most insightful, layered and moving accounts of the modern African Diaspora.” – Patricia Williams (Author of The Alchemy of Race & Rights et al)
₵85.00We Won’t Budge
₵85.00 -
The Teller of Secrets (Ouida Edition)
In this stunning debut novel—a tale of self-discovery and feminist awakening—a feisty Nigerian-Ghanaian girl growing up amid the political upheaval of late 1960s postcolonial Ghana begins to question the hypocrisy of her patriarchal society, and the restrictions and unrealistic expectations placed on women.
Young Esi Agyekum is the unofficial “secret keeper” of her family, as tight-lipped about her father’s adultery as she is about her half-sisters’ sex lives. But after she is humiliated and punished for her own sexual exploration, Esi begins to question why women’s secrets and men’s secrets bear different consequences. It is the beginning of a journey of discovery that will lead her to unexpected places.
As she navigates her burgeoning womanhood, Esi tries to reconcile her own ideals and dreams with her family’s complicated past and troubled present, as well as society’s many double standards that limit her and other women. Against a fraught political climate, Esi fights to carve out her own identity, and learns to manifest her power in surprising and inspiring ways.
Funny, fresh, and fiercely original, The Teller of Secrets marks the American debut of one of West Africa’s most exciting literary talents.
₵165.00 -
Jungle Dance
Jungle Dance is a euphemism for a myriad of issues, roles, relationships and routes. It is a picture of what the corporate world is – challenging but rewarding also. It captures feelings of despondency, rejection and confusion interlaced with the triumphs, friendships and love that two women experience in their corporate journeys.
“Steeped in realism, yet fictional, emotional pet detached, almost biographical but not exactly that, a mishmash yet lucid – that’s what you get when you get an astute and observant corporate person doing a foray into fiction. You get real life drama in an imaginative narrative. Come let’s dance in this jungle of words.” – Nana Awere Damoah, Writer/Engineer
“Petra takes on an uncommon theme like the corporate world and tells a story from the lenses of her own experiences. This is a fictional work that ends up being real, motivational and romantic!” – Ama Pratt, Broadcast Journalist
“Riveting and gripping. A complete story about life in the corporate world and its vicissitudes — told with the sense of African love for family. A quintessential modern African story.” – Yaw Ofosu Larbi, Broadcast Journalist
₵55.00Jungle Dance
₵55.00 -
24 and Gnashing
I don’t know about you, but growing up is scary, confusing and it doesn’t get any better especially if you’re gnashing.
Actually, it is both funny and depressing like forcing a little kid to dance.
But we move on despite the pain, the joy, and rejections towards whatever end.
24 and Gnashing is a journey through the mind of a 24-year-old striding through the defining decade.
It talks about heartbreaks, faith, fear, the joy of friends and family, and maybe hope.
₵20.0024 and Gnashing
₵20.00 -
The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives
For a polygamist like Baba Segi, his collection of wives and a gaggle of children are the symbol of prosperity, success and validation of his manhood. Everything runs reasonably smoothly in the patriarchal home, until wife number four intrudes on this family romance. Bolanle, a graduate amongst the semi-literate wives, is hated from the start. Baba Segi’s glee at bagging a graduate doesn’t help matters. Worse, Bolanle’s arrival threatens to do more than simply ruffle feathers. She’s unwittingly set to expose a secret that her co-wives intend to protect, at all costs.
Lola Shoneyin’s light and ironic touch exposes not only the rotten innards of Baba Segi’s polygamous household in this cleverly plotted story; it also shows how women not educated or semi-literate, women in contemporary Nigeria can be as restricted, controlled and damaged by men – be they fathers, husbands, uncles, rapists – as they’ve never been.
₵120.00 -
Secrets Of The Bending Grove
SHIKA AMENYO, a sensitive, inhibited woman from a respectable family, discovers that her cousin, SEFA GAMELI, has been keeping a terrible secret that is killing him. She embarks with him on a journey that is replete with shocking family scandals, betrayal and deep loss, but also restitution. Shika’s friends — MIYO, a fragile, unreachable soul, and SWEETIE, a shrewd spitfire on a mission — buttress her with much-needed support.
The resilience of these three women comes from mastering the survival traits of the grove. They are bound by painful secrets from childhood that drive their relationships with the men in their lives: a pragmatist whose generosity will touch many women; a traitor hiding behind a priest’s collar; an ambitious man living a lie in order to secure his career; and a green-eyed wanderer who must allow himself to be tamed if he is to obtain the one thing he desires from this foreign land.
₵55.00Secrets Of The Bending Grove
₵55.00 -
Travellers
Shortlisted for the 2020 James Tait Black Memorial Prize
Modern Europe is a melting pot of migrating souls: among them a Nigerian American couple on a prestigious arts fellowship, a transgender film student seeking the freedom of authenticity, a Libyan doctor who lost his wife and child in the waters of the Mediterranean, and a Somalian shopkeeper trying to save his young daughter from forced marriage. And, though the divide between the self-chosen exiles and those who are forced to leave home may feel solid, in reality such boundaries are endlessly shifting and frighteningly soluble.
Moving from a Berlin nightclub to a Sicilian refugee camp to the London apartment of a Malawian poet, Helon Habila evokes a rich mosaic of migrant experiences. And through his characters’ interconnecting fates, he traces the extraordinary pilgrimages we all might make in pursuit of home.
₵135.00Travellers
₵135.00 -
Ashawo Diaries: Tales of Adwoa Attaa
A most intriguing intercourse of tragedy and sex
The titillating intrigues of a good bad girl…delightful reading: sometimes light, sometimes dark; always with ponderous insights! – Koku Dotse
Ashawo Diaries makes for engaging reading, and beyond connecting with earlier literary forebears, it is important to think about how such a novel enters the Ghanaian social landscape where sex is traditionally a public taboo. Ashawo Diaries is a text that challenges sanitized perspectives of Ghana. – Kwabena Opoku-Agyemang, Lecturer, Department of English, University of Ghana, Legon
[The author] is zealous towards unearthing the ills of society. I describe her as the “perfect role model of today’s world”. I am not surprised she took this bold step to write this story. Though bold for our traditional society, l am of the view that she held the bull by the horn. The story…will surely leave readers scratching their heads with excitement. – Dr (Mrs.) Nana Ama Pokuaa Arthur, Lecturer, KNUST
A thrilling page-turner. Amoafowaa is fluid in narration, and succinct in description. – Rebecca Obuobisa-Darko, Personnel Officer, Ga East Municipal Education Directorate
Cecila’s Ashawo Diaries is storytelling meddled in art, obviously, science and a game of the protagonist. Daring diary entries with erotic sprinkles, gripping and sustaining, which depicts the struggles of a native daughter in contrast to Richard Wright’s native son, the zigzag turns of life and the map of love, friendship, pleasure, identity, re-identity as compasses at each turn. Poetically written and with a feminist undertone. – Grace Ihejiamaizu, Lecturer, University of Calabar, Founder of IKapture and Opportunity Desk, Nigeria
Ashawo Diaries raises queries on why young girls should experience sexual suppression in a cultural context like Ghana where children are valued, moral standards are held high and sexual discussions silenced. – Dr. Georgina Yaa Oduro, Director, Centre for Gender Research, Advocacy and Documentation (CEGRAD), University of Cape Coast
₵90.00 -
Aya
Okornore is a sorceress of words. And in the worlds she has created in this work, the reader is roller-coastered across places and spaces much deeper than the footprints she had splashed across cultures. The issues she scopes out are scheduled in a time capsule of infinite temporalities.
Soul! is what screams at you when you journey through page after page of this delicious collection. From the heavenly to the banal, from the questions of our time to the quest of ages, Aya provides a sounding board for what it means to be human. These sweet verses, minted from the heart of a cosmopolitan citizen, secrete mystery and creativity
Sometimes sassy, sometimes philosophical, Okornore nourishes the desire to read on and connect with a soulful source of erudition.
Aya is a harvest of possibilities.
₵60.00Aya
₵60.00