Abyssinian Chronicles

Moses Isegawa

Age 16 +
31 July 2014
9781447275848
512 pages

Synopsis

Set in a tribal village during the years of the Idi Amin terror in Uganda, Abyssinian Chronicles takes us into the heart of Africa, vividly immersing us in the mesmerizing extremes of beauty and brutality, wisdom and ignorance, wealth and poverty, hope and despair that define the continent today. We come to intimately know an extended family rich in centuries-old tradition, and follow the unsentimental education of the boy who takes it all in, who learns, observes and teaches, and starts to feel the very earth moving under the African experience and the people he loves.

Filled with extraordinary characters, animated by a wicked sense of humour and guided by intense, clear-eyed compassion, this novel feels at once classic and unique.

‘As Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children was for modern India, Abyssinian Chronicles will likely prove to be a breakthrough book for Uganda’ Time Out US

‘A spectacular first novel. Epic, sprawling, brimming with life – and death’ Elle US

‘Vibrant and sombre, Abyssinian Chronicles seamlessly integrates positive, workaday Ugandan lives with Amin’s murderous regime . . . sharp and bitterly funny storytelling’ Independent
‘Vibrant and sombre, Abyssinian Chronicles seamlessly integrates positive, workaday Ugandan lives with Amin’s murderous regime . . . sharp and bitterly funny storytelling’ Independent
‘Precious few first novels are as phantasmagoric or as haunting as this one’ Time