Taiye Selasi Books

"Allow me to introduce myself." But he needed no introduction. "Anansi the spider!" said Anansi the boy. "The tales were true!" "Traditional tales are always true," the spider answered, laughing. "Nothing lasts so long as truth, nor travels quite so far." Award-winning author of Ghana Must Go, Taiye Selasi, reimagines the story of Anansi, the much-loved trickster, for a new generation. Kweku has grown up hearing stories about the mischievous spider Anansi. He is given the nickname Anansi by his father because of his similarly cheeky ways. On a holiday to visit his beloved Grandma in Ghana, Anansi the spider and Anansi the boy meet, and discover a magical pot that can be filled with whatever they want. Anansi fills it again and again with his favourite red-red stew, and eats so much that he feels sick. Will he learn to share this wonderful gift? This charming retelling of a West African story teaches readers about the dangers of greed, and the importance of being kind. Tinuke Fagborun's colourful illustrations bring the magic and wonder of the tale to life.

The sudden and unexpected death of a renowned surgeon in Ghana has rippling repercussions on his family, both from his first marriage and his second, as truths are uncovered and betrayals are exposed, ultimately bringing everyone closer together

From a breathtaking new voice, winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing, a novel about a splintered family in Kenya and the struggling nation around it--a story of power and deceit and survival, grief and madness, unrequited love, sacrifice and perseverance. Odidi Oganda, running for his life, is gunned down in the streets of Nairobi. His grief-stricken sister, Ajany, just returned from Brazil, and their father bring his body back to their crumbling home deep in the Kenyan drylands, seeking some comfort and peace. But the murder has stirred memories long left untouched, and unleashed a series of unexpected events: Odidi and Ajany's mercurial mother flees in a fit of anguish and rage; a young Englishman arrives at the Ogandas' house, seeking his missing father; a hardened policeman who has borne witness to unspeakable acts reopens a cold case; and an all-seeing Trader with a murky identity plots an overdue revenge. In scenes stretching from the violent upheaval of contemporary Kenya, back through a shocking political assassination in 1969 and the Mau Mau uprisings against British colonial rule in the 1950s, we come to learn the secrets held by this parched landscape, buried deep within the shared past of the family and of a conflicted nation. Here is a spellbinding novel about a brother and sister who have lost their way; about how myths come to pass, history is written, and war stains us forever.