Behold the Dreamers
About the book
A Cameroonian immigrant family and its American employers face the financial crisis.
Africa · A READING GUIDE
Cameroon
Mongo Beti uses satire to criticise colonial missions and postcolonial authoritarianism. Imbolo Mbue pairs immigrants’ lives in America with an African community’s resistance to an oil company. Djaïli Amadou Amal depicts forced marriage and violence against women in northern Cameroon. The selection thus combines translated French-language writing with English originals.
WHERE TO START
- Behold the DreamersImbolo Mbue
- The Story of the MadmanMongo Beti
- The ImpatientDjaïli Amadou Amal
Books to begin with
An editorial selection · not rankedNo matches. Try another language or search term.
How Beautiful We Were
About the book
Residents of the fictional village of Kosawa resist an oil company poisoning their land.
The Story of the Madman
About the book
A satire of a chief and his sons explores political manipulation and disintegrating postcolonial values.
Original title: L’Histoire du fou
The Poor Christ of Bomba
About the book
A priest’s assistant’s diary exposes the contradictions of French Catholic missionary activity in colonial Cameroon.
Original title: Le Pauvre Christ de Bomba
The Impatient
About the book
Three women in northern Cameroon face forced marriage, polygamy and demands to endure violence patiently.
Original title: Les Impatientes
Mission to Kala
About the book
A failed student’s mission challenges his assumptions about village life.
Remember Ruben
About the book
A novel of colonial Cameroon and emerging resistance to domination.
Context and sources
Sources on authors and their connections to this country. Specific edition details appear beside each book. Polish and English originals are not labelled as translations.
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