The In-Between World of Vikram LallGiller Prize-winner M.G. Vassanji’s The In-Between World of Vikram Lall is a haunting novel of corruption and regret that brings to life the complexity and turbulence of Kenyan society in the last five decades. Rich in sensuous detail and historical insight, this is a powerful story of passionate betrayals and political violence, racial tension and the strictures of tradition, told in elegant, assured prose. The novel begins in 1953, with eight-year-old Vikram Lall a witness to the celebrations around the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, just as the Mau Mau guerilla war for independence from Britain begins to gain strength. In a land torn apart by idealism, doubt, political upheaval and terrible acts of violence, Vic and his sister Deepa must find their place among a new generation. Neither colonists nor African, neither white nor black, the Indian brother and sister find themselves somewhere in between in their band of playmates: Bill and Annie, British children, and Njoroge, an African boy. These are the relationships that will shape the rest of their lives. We follow Vikram through the changes in East African society, the immense promise of the fifties and sixties. But when that hope is betrayed by the corruption and violence of the following decades, Vic is drawn into the Kenyatta government’s orbit of graft and power-broking. Njoroge, his childhood friend, can abandon neither the idealism of his youth nor his love for Vic’s sister Deepa. But neither the idealism of the one nor the passive cynicism of the other can avert the tragedies that await them. The In-Between World of Vikram Lall is a profound and careful examination of one man’s search for his place in the world, with themes that have run through Vassanji’s work: the nature of community in a volatile society, the relations between colony and colonizer, and the inescapable presence of the past. It is also, finally, a deeply personal book speaking to the people who are in the in-between. |
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M.G. Vassanji. NATIONAL BESTSELLER THE NCHANTRESS OF LLORENCE SALMAN RVSHDIE Praise for The Enchantress of Florence NATIONAL BESTSELLER INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER. Front Cover.
M.G. Vassanji. NATIONAL BESTSELLER THE NCHANTRESS OF LLORENCE SALMAN RVSHDIE Praise for The Enchantress of Florence NATIONAL BESTSELLER INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER. Front Cover.
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... Florence is vintage Rushdie , and reminds us , in case we may have forgotten , that he can tell a story across East and West better than anyone else in the language . " -The Daily Telegraph " Enchantress is consumed with notions of ...
... Florence is vintage Rushdie , and reminds us , in case we may have forgotten , that he can tell a story across East and West better than anyone else in the language . " -The Daily Telegraph " Enchantress is consumed with notions of ...
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... Florence is at once a mischievous and serious medi- tation on power , love and possibility . " Ottawa Citizen " This novel is best sipped because it's a heady brew , but it is also enter- tainment of the highest literary order ...
... Florence is at once a mischievous and serious medi- tation on power , love and possibility . " Ottawa Citizen " This novel is best sipped because it's a heady brew , but it is also enter- tainment of the highest literary order ...
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Contents
Section 1 | 5 |
Section 2 | 13 |
Section 3 | 27 |
Section 4 | 43 |
Section 5 | 57 |
Section 6 | 79 |
Section 7 | 91 |
Section 8 | 103 |
Section 12 | 167 |
Section 13 | 179 |
Section 14 | 195 |
Section 15 | 211 |
Section 16 | 237 |
Section 17 | 263 |
Section 18 | 285 |
Section 19 | 307 |
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Abul Fazl Ago Vespucci Akbar Alessandra Andrea Doria Angelica Argalia Argalia the Turk asked Babar battle beauty began Bhakti Ram Jain Birbal Ceva city's condottiere court Dashwanth dead death dream Duke Giuliano emperor enchantment enchantress face Fatehpur Sikri father Fiorentina Florence Florentine foreigner fucking girl Giulietta gold Hamida Bano hand head heard hidden princess il Machia Jahanpanah Janissaries Jodha Khan Khanzada Khanzada Begum killed king knew Lady Black Eyes Lady Man Bai living looked Lord Hauksbank Lorenzo Machia magic mandrake Marietta matter Medici Mirror Mogor dell'Amore mother Mughal never Niccolò night once Ottoman Percussina Persian Prince Salim Qara Köz queen replied royal Samarkand Scáthach secret Selim the Grim Shah Ismail Shaibani Shaibani Khan Sikri sister story Sultan Swiss giants tell things thought told turned Uccello Umar wanted witch woman women words young