In the House of the Interpreter A Memoir

Growing up in Kenya in the 1950s, the future novelist went to an elite school run by a Briton just as the Mau Mau uprising swept his family into the revolt against colonial rule. This powerful memoir depicts a youth torn between these separate worlds i

"Brave and vivid. A document of a remarkable writer's coming-of-age" Independent "Compelling. A fine and fiery book" -- Stuart Kelly The Scotsman "A work of understated and heartfelt prose that relates one man's intimate view of the epic cultural and political shifts that created modern Africa... Ngugi wa Thiong'o's Kenya endures. And it comes alive in the pages of his brilliant and essential memoir" LA Times "Considering the scope of Ngugi's life, when completed his extraordinary memoirs encompassing colonialism, post-colonialism, English racism, African despotism, exile and fame may well be among the major works of history and literature of our time" Washington Post "A portrait of a writer as a young boy, torn between the English-inspired values of his school and the plight of his own people and family. Thiong'o's lean, spare language recreates the past with a resonant sense of truth; In the House of the Interpreter is a minor classic to add to the canon of the literature of school days" -- Ben Felsenburg Metro