Devil on the Cross

The latest addition to the Penguin African Writers Series- the great Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong'o’s powerful fictional critique of capitalism.

The great Kenyan writer and Nobel Prize nominee'snovel that he wrote in secret, on toilet paper, while in prison-featuring an introduction by Namwali Serpell, the author of the novelThe Old Drift

One of the cornerstones of Ngugiwa Thiong'o’s fame, Devil on the Cross is a powerful fictional critique of capitalism. It tells the tragic story of Wariinga, a young woman who moves from a rural Kenyan town to the capital, Nairobi, only to be exploited by her boss and later by a corrupt businessman. As she struggles to survive, Wariinga begins to realize that her problems are only symptoms of a larger societal malaise and that much of the misfortune stems from the Western, capitalist influences on her country. An impassioned cry for a Kenya free of dictatorship and for African writers to work in their own local dialects, Devil on the Cross has had a profound influence on Africa and on post-colonial African literature.

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