Litnet

"By nadere inspeksie kon jy duidelik sien hoe die terme van tyd tot tyd versag is, van uitgawe na uitgawe. Van die oorspronklike, wat hard geland het op die sensitiewe oor van die tweede helfte van die eeu, is hulle telkens verander volgens wat in die tyd as sosiaal aanvaarbaar beskou is."

"And after many days contains a terrible and beautiful narrative of enduring family love, principled conduct and horrific power abuse and the greed it permits to destroy lives. Quietly told, it is a story that will linger in the mind of any reader, long after they have closed its back cover."

"With considerable simplification, but highly persuasively in its sweepingly confident claims, Bofane’s account of the world’s continuously violent history from the late 19th until well into the 21st century places the Congo centrally at its heart of darkness, then and now."

"Nevertheless, the fact that certain authors manage, like Gaël Faye does with Small country, to create chronicles that do not seem to desecrate, cheapen or sensationalise the devastating dimensions of those events, remains admirable proof of the nuanced art and deep empathy of which some writers are capable."

"While the Afro-Brazilian connection through transportation of enslaved West Africans to Bahía and other ports and parts of the 'New World' is well known, this novel does the unusual thing of depicting the return of one such (former) slave to the Yoruba region of her family origins."

"This important narrative, like other well-known, earlier examples of African prison memoirs, many of them by famous writers, is a record of courage, friendship and enterprise in loyal league against the incarcerating, isolating and obliterating forces of tyranny."

"The Indian community of Kenya comes into strong focus in this recent novel, part family saga, part social analysis and part romance, set mainly in Nairobi and combining idealistic hope with some strongly satirical exposures of the city’s and the society’s ugly underbelly."

"Brief as it is, and with some of the naïveties of a first novel, Mukasonga’s narrative packs a powerful punch without exploiting the Rwandan tragedy for merely melodramatic effects."

"Sometimes seen as primarily a family saga or a portrait of the teeming city of Cairo, this debut novel’s wider resonance is indicated in the subtitle; it is a highly sophisticated reading of the pulse of urban Egypt over a stretch of the 30 years between 1984 and 2014."

"Told with great candour and in her inimitable, forthright style, Vollenhoven’s is one of the most important South African autobiographies to have appeared."

"My name is Faustin, Faustin Nsenghimana. I’m fifteen years old. I’m in a cell in Kigali central prison. I’m waiting to be executed."

"This fine and moving text by an author originally from elsewhere is a rich contribution to the African library ..."

"Lagos is simultaneously the topic and setting of this text, and was also the title the author originally gave this fascinating modern fantasy novel."

"I strongly recommend that all readers encounter for themselves the charming, humane, by turns hilarious and profound tales contained in this collection ..."

"This fine example of the detective genre is strongly recommended to readers – not only for its clever plot, but also for its richer insights."

"Who will restore my beautiful dreams to me? Who will restore Shama to me? Who will restore my childhood?"