Wizard of the Crow by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o has a great title and a great cover. The novel itself isn’t quite as good as the name and cover art, but it’s pretty damn good. It’s also pretty damn pretentious and happy with itself. But the author – of whom I knew nothing when I started – has earned the right to be self satisfied far more than I’ve earned any right to criticize him for it.
I was just going to copy and paste a synopsis here, but most of the synopses I found were context heavy and content light.
What is the book about? Well, the author is an acclaimed playwright and political prisoner/exile.
This context is important since it’s one of the most blatant and angry satire I’ve read. (For context, that’s a moderate amount of satire.)
Here is my synopsis: The book is about the fictional African country, the Free Republic of Aburiria, which is as free a republic as many other countries with similar adjectives in their name. [Interactive review option: insert snide comment here.] Within Aburiria (which has tildes that aren’t copying and pasting), this guy becomes the Wizard of the Crow and upsets the dictatorship and direction of the country. That doesn’t really mean anything changes, but it might.
Since the book’s presentation is all about context, I’d like to add a bit more. There is a significant domestic abuse arc in the novel – a man beats his wife (despite explicit orders from his superiors not to) and eventually gets taken to angry women court and is punished. Together the abuser and abused heal. When I was learning about the author as I read, I found some notable domestic violence accusations.
I might not read more from the author because I’ll never have enough time to read everything I want and I’d rather prioritize writing from those whose children don’t make abuse allegations. But who knows?
Overall, it’s a good book. Take the author how you will.