Ten African Novels You Should Know

Some of the best stories from the motherland.

Things Fall Apart — Chinua Achebe - This classic novel by acclaimed Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe explores the clash between traditional African culture and European colonialism through the life of farmer and local wrestling legend, Okonkwo.(Photo: Heinemann Publishing)

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Things Fall Apart — Chinua Achebe - This classic novel by acclaimed Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe explores the clash between traditional African culture and European colonialism through the life of farmer and local wrestling legend, Okonkwo.(Photo: Heinemann Publishing)

The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born — Ayi Kwei Armah - This fictional commentary on corruption is centered on the life of an unnamed Ghanaian rail worker who is pressured to accept bribes and indulge in other corrupt activities for the material gain of his family.(Photo: Heinemann Publishing)

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The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born — Ayi Kwei Armah - This fictional commentary on corruption is centered on the life of an unnamed Ghanaian rail worker who is pressured to accept bribes and indulge in other corrupt activities for the material gain of his family.(Photo: Heinemann Publishing)

Photo By Photo: Heinemann Publishing

Maru — Bessie Head - Set in a rural villiage in Botswana, Maru tells the story of a young woman who confronts discrimination and falls in love when she accepts a job as a teacher in the village where members of her ethnic group are looked down upon.  (Photo: Heinemann Publishing)

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Maru — Bessie Head - Set in a rural villiage in Botswana, Maru tells the story of a young woman who confronts discrimination and falls in love when she accepts a job as a teacher in the village where members of her ethnic group are looked down upon.  (Photo: Heinemann Publishing)

Weep Not Child — Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o - Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's debut novel was the first by an East African author to be published in English.Weep Not Child follows two brothers who must make difficult decisions about their lives and loyalties against the backdrop of Kenya's violent struggle for independence from British colonialists.(Photo: Penguin Books)

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Weep Not Child — Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o - Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's debut novel was the first by an East African author to be published in English.Weep Not Child follows two brothers who must make difficult decisions about their lives and loyalties against the backdrop of Kenya's violent struggle for independence from British colonialists.(Photo: Penguin Books)

Photo By Photo: Penguin Books

The Famished Road — Ben Okri - This novel's magical realism, time-travel and themes of corruption and colonialism earned Nigerian author Ben Okri a Man Booker Prize in 1991.(Photo: Anchor Publishing)

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The Famished Road — Ben Okri - This novel's magical realism, time-travel and themes of corruption and colonialism earned Nigerian author Ben Okri a Man Booker Prize in 1991.(Photo: Anchor Publishing)

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Half of a Yellow Sun — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - This contemporary novel follows the intertwined lives of three young people coming of age during Nigeria's Biafran War as they navigate moral responsibility, ethnic allegiances and issues of class and race.(Photo: Anchor Publishing)

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Half of a Yellow Sun — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - This contemporary novel follows the intertwined lives of three young people coming of age during Nigeria's Biafran War as they navigate moral responsibility, ethnic allegiances and issues of class and race.(Photo: Anchor Publishing)

So Long a Letter — Mariama Ba - This semi-autobiographical novel chronicles the emotional struggles faced by a Senegalese woman after her husband takes a second wife.(Photo: Heinemann Publishing)

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So Long a Letter — Mariama Ba - This semi-autobiographical novel chronicles the emotional struggles faced by a Senegalese woman after her husband takes a second wife.(Photo: Heinemann Publishing)

Photo By Photo: Heinemann Publishing

Our Sister Killjoy — Ama Ata Aidoo - The novel explores the thoughts and impressions of a young woman from Ghana who leaves the country for the first time to travel to Europe for school. (Photo: Longman Publishing)

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Our Sister Killjoy — Ama Ata Aidoo - The novel explores the thoughts and impressions of a young woman from Ghana who leaves the country for the first time to travel to Europe for school. (Photo: Longman Publishing)

Photo By Photo: Longman Publishing

The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears — Dinaw Mengestu - Set in Washington, D.C., this novel chronicles the life of a young man from Ethiopia who flled to the United States during the Ethiopian Revolution, but finds that life in America isn't what he imagined.  (Photo: Riverhead Trade Publishing)

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The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears — Dinaw Mengestu - Set in Washington, D.C., this novel chronicles the life of a young man from Ethiopia who flled to the United States during the Ethiopian Revolution, but finds that life in America isn't what he imagined.  (Photo: Riverhead Trade Publishing)

Butterfly Burning — Yvonne Vera - Butterfly Burning tells the story of a tragic romance set in one of Zimbabwe's Black townships during the 1940s. (Photo: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publishing)

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Butterfly Burning — Yvonne Vera - Butterfly Burning tells the story of a tragic romance set in one of Zimbabwe's Black townships during the 1940s. (Photo: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publishing)

Photo By Photo: Farrar