“A compelling story of how the transformative events of history weigh on individual lives and relationships.” - Barack Obama
The Nobel Prize–nominated Kenyan writer’s best-known novel, featuring an introduction by Nobel Prize winner Abdulrazak Gurnah
Set in the wake of the Mau Mau rebellion and on the cusp of Kenya's independence from Britain, A Grain of Wheat follows a group of villagers whose lives have been transformed by the 1952–1960 Emergency. At the center of it all is the reticent Mugo, the village's chosen hero and a man haunted by a terrible secret. As we learn of the villagers' tangled histories in a narrative interwoven with myth and peppered with allusions to real-life leaders, including Jomo Kenyatta, a masterly story unfolds in which compromises are forced, friendships are betrayed, and loves are tested.
BIO
Ngugi wa Thiong'o is an award-winning novelist, playwright, and essayist from Kenya whose novels have been translated into more than thirty languages. He lives in Irvine, California, where he is Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine.
REVIEWS
“One of the greatest writers of our time.” -- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The Guardian
“His novels . . . have been deservedly canonized by the iconic [Penguin Classics] series.” --The Wall Street Journal
[P] Penguin Group / June 05, 2012
0.8" H x 7.6" L x 5.1" W (0.45 lbs) 272 pages