Alex La Guma Books

In this previously banned collection of seven short stories, Alex La Guma vividly reveals the plight of the poor and oppressed in apartheid South Africa. Characterised by his striking style and colourful dialogue, La Guma's stories explore experiences of racism and social inequality in various settings, from an overcrowded prison to a Portuguese restaurant. In the title story, 'A Walk in the Night', a factory worker loses his job after an argument with a white supervisor. His subsequent descent into helpless rage is played out in rich detail, illuminating the toxic effects of poverty, police brutality, and gang violence. Each story in the collection lays bare the struggles of those living in 1960s South Africa, offering poignant moments of hope and cementing Alex La Guma as one of the most important writers of his time. 'The greatest South African novelist of the 20th century.' The Times 'Achieved in 90 pages what other African writers had tried to achieve in the course of many years.' Wole Soyinka 'A central figure alongside Chinua Achebe.' Ngugi wa Thiong'o

In his final novel, renowned author Alex La Guma explores the tensions of a South African town fraught with the desire for revenge.Out in the flat, featureless countryside, a small mining town in South Africa is refused access to water by their oppressors. Knowing that the rain is their last chance for survival, all they can do is wait...As the dry summer wears on, the white Afrikaner townspeople are unaware of the storm brewing around them as, deep in the bush, a shepherd recalls the riddle of the butcherbird.Glimpsing into precolonial days and the aftermath of the Boer War, Time of the Butcherbird is a powerful reminder of the communities that were wrecked by conflict and dispossessed of their own land. 'The greatest South African novelist of the 20th century.' The Times'A central figure alongside Chinua Achebe [in] the making and consolidation of modern African literature.' Ngugi wa Thiong'o

Written from Alex La Guma's first-hand experiences in apartheid South Africa, In the Fog of the Seasons' End is a short but powerful novel, unflinching in its depiction of the day-to-day realities of segregation and the secret underground movement that fought against it. For Beukes and Elia, undercover protestors of apartheid, every day holds the threat of discovery and imprisonment. With the threat of torture hanging over their heads, every leaflet, every phone call, every outspoken word puts them closer to capture. As the stakes get impossibly high, the only thing holding them together is their refusal to submit to the regime - but even that is proving more difficult by the day. An intense and well-crafted plot, Alex La Guma unravels the truth behind the underground anti-apartheid movement. 'The greatest South African novelist of the 20th century.' The Times 'His spirit of hope lives on in the books he left us. He is a central figure alongside Chinua Achebe.' Ngugi wa Thiong'o