If history is always narrated by the victors, in his Trilogy, Couto performs an act of restorative justice, supplying a voice to those silenced by the horrors of colonialism. As he depicts the beauty and terror of war and love, and reveals the devastation of a profoundly unequal clash of cultures, he gives a uniquely personal voice to a little-known period of history.
Set against the backdrop of the war between the Kingdom of Gaza, one of the last great pre-colonial African kingdoms, and the Portuguese colonialists, a young African woman Imani and the Portuguese sergeant Germano de Melo have shared an unexpected love. While Germano is left behind in Africa, serving with the Portuguese military, Imani is enlisted to serve as interpreter to the imprisoned emperor of Gaza, Ngungunyane, on the long voyage to Lisbon. Imani will come back only after a decade-long odyssey through the Portuguese empire at the turn of the nineteenth century. For Ngungunyane and his seven wives, it will be a journey of no return.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mia Couto, born in Beira, Mozambique, in 1955, is one of the most prominent writers in Portuguese-speaking Africa. After studying medicine and biology in Maputo, he worked as a journalist and headed several Mozambican national newspapers and magazines. Couto has been awarded the Jan Michalski Prize, the Camões Prize for Literature, and the prestigious Neustadt International Prize for Literature, and more. He was also a finalist for the Man Booker International Prize in 2015 and was shortlisted for the 2017 International DUBLIN Literary Award.
QUOTES
“Couto’s protagonists remain consistently fascinating.” —PW
“A nuanced study of the power plays and violence sparked by colonialism.” Kirkus
“Mia Couto’s stories of civilization and barbarity are told through a language that is precise and profound; he weaves together the living tradition of legend, poetry and song.”
International Man Booker Shortlist Jury
“On almost every page … we sense Couto’s delight in those places where language slips officialdom’s asphyxiating grasp.” —New York Times
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR
“David Brookshaw has captured the African and European nuances in a translation that is poetic, agile, and so beautifully executed that it reads like an original text.” –TLS
