Mukiwa
A White Boy in Africa
Grove/Atlantic · Print & ebook · December 10, 2004
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- Who it’s for
- A reflective African memoir that reads with narrative pull and a quiet sting.
- Genres
- Personal Memoirs, Cultural Heritage Lives, Colonialism & Its Aftermath
- Published
- Grove/Atlantic, December 10, 2004
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Start with this bookAbout this book
Mukiwa opens with Peter Godwin, six years old, describing the murder of his neighbor by African guerillas, in 1964, pre-war Rhodesia. Godwin's parents are liberal whites, his mother a governement-employed doctor, his father an engineer. Through his innocent, young eyes, the story of the beginning of the end of white rule in Africa unfolds.
Continue reading
The memoir follows Godwin's personal journey from the eve of war in Rhodesia to his experience fighting in the civil war that he detests to his adventures as a journalist in the new state of Zimbabwe, covering the bloody return to Black rule. With each transition Godwin's voice develops, from that of a boy to a young man to an adult returning to his homeland. This tale of the savage struggle between blacks and whites as the British Colonial period comes to an end is set against the vividly painted background of the myserious world of South Africa.
Quietly Arresting
A reflective African memoir that reads with narrative pull and a quiet sting.
Come here for
- literary memoir texture
- history with a conversation-ready edge
Expect
- an author’s-eye view
- serious subject matter without academic stiffness
Where it sits
| Personal Memoirs | 74% |
|---|---|
| Colonialism & Its Aftermath | 25% |
| Cultural Heritage Lives | 21% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Personal Memoirs
- African History
- Murder & Homicide
- Authors
- Peter Godwin
- Publisher
- Grove/Atlantic
- Published
- December 10, 2004
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Reading lane
- Personal Memoirs