Burundi, indeed, is a small country in East Africa, with about 14 million people across 27,830 square kilometers. It was under German and Belgian colonial rule until 1962. The country has two primary ethnic groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi. The Germans and Belgians kept the Tutsi monarch intact, but the Belgians began cutting off… [Read More]
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Tag: Africa
Benin: Breaking the Maafa Chain
This novel imagines aspects of a true story. Sarah Forbes Bonetta was born into a West African tribe around 1843, orphaned, and captured with the intention of selling her into slavery or using her for human sacrifice. In 1850, she was given to Frederick Forbes, a representative of Queen Victoria who was working to stop… [Read More]
Uganda: Kintu
I’m skipping around the alphabet and sliding around the world to land on Uganda and the book Kintu, a novel by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi. It’s a multigenerational story about a curse released in 1750. Kintu Kiddu’s descendants deal with its effects until the the novel’s conclusion, set in 2004. At the same time, it asks… [Read More]
Algeria: Cousin K
Albert Camus is the best-known author from Algeria, but he is not the only one. Yasmina Khadra is another. It’s the feminine pen name used by the masculine Mohammed Moulessehoul, who served in the Algerian Army and wanted to avoid censorship. This particular novella is part of the French Voices series of translations at the… [Read More]
South Africa: Ivory from Paradise
I’m finally at the end of the African book project. It took a lot longer than I thought it would. The last country on the list is also the wealthiest in Africa, the Republic of South Africa. I read Ivory From Paradise, by David Schmahmann. It’s the story of a white family that scatters from… [Read More]
