
GENDER STUDIES (GHANA)
The Sex Lives of African Women by Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah, 2022
R280 from The Book Lounge
Liberation has many avenues – and sex is simply one more path towards liberation that Africans have to traverse. Black and Afro-descendant women’s experiences with sex, sexualities and pleasure are comprehensively documented in this fascinating exploration of these almost universally taboo subjects. At times painful, joyful and humourous – and always candid – this is the eye-opening and informative book we have all been needing. LM

CONTEMPORARY FICTION (ETHIOPIA)
The History of a Difficult Child by Mihret Sibhat, 2023
R350 from The Book Lounge
In The History of a Difficult Child, author Mihret Sibhat offers us a kaleidoscope through which to consider the events of history – both global and local – through the intimate, evolving viewpoint of a child born in tumultuous times. While the setting is revolutionary Ethiopia in the 1980s, the themes of loss, corruption, intimacy, faith, and liberation ricochet the reader between places and events, while remaining accessible to anyone who has ever felt deeply about a place, person or idea. Our young narrator, Selam, the “Difficult Child” of the title, is the spark that ignites journeys and questions, and whose indomitable spirit will not be denied a better future even if she has to reinvent the truth to craft it. LB-P