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Afterlives

By the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 2021

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Afterlives

By: Abdulrazak Gurnah
Narrated by: Damian Lynch
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Bloomsbury presents Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah, read by Damian Lynch.

BY THE WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE 2021

'One of Africa's greatest living writers' Giles Foden
'Exquisite' Telegraph
‘A remarkable novel, by a wondrous writer’ Philippe Sands
'To read Afterlives is to be returned to the joy of storytelling' Aminatta Forna
'Effortlessly compelling storytelling ... You forget that you are reading fiction, it feels so real' Leila Aboulela


Restless, ambitious Ilyas was stolen from his parents by the Schutzruppe askari, the German colonial troops; after years away, he returns to his village to find his parents gone, and his sister Afiya given away.

Hamza was not stolen, but was sold; he has come of age in the army, at the right hand of an officer whose control has ensured his protection but marked him for life. Hamza does not have words for how the war ended for him. Returning to the town of his childhood, all he wants is work, however humble, and security – and the beautiful Afiya.

The century is young. The Germans and the British and the French and the Belgians and whoever else have drawn their maps and signed their treaties and divided up Africa. As they seek complete dominion they are forced to extinguish revolt after revolt by the colonised. The conflict in Europe opens another arena in east Africa where a brutal war devastates the landscape.

As these interlinked friends and survivors come and go, live and work and fall in love, the shadow of a new war lengthens and darkens, ready to snatch them up and carry them away.©2020 Abdulrazak Gurnah (P)2020 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC 20th Century Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction World War I Africa War
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Critic reviews

A tender account of the extraordinariness of ordinary lives, Afterlives combines entrancing storytelling with writing whose exquisite emotional precision confirms Gurnah’s place among the outstanding stylists of modern English prose. Like its predecessors, this is a novel that demands to be read and reread, for its humour, generosity of spirit and clear-sighted vision of the infinite contradictions of human nature
From the first assured pages of Afterlives, a book of quiet beauty and tragedy, it is clear one is in the hands of a master storyteller
A deeply compelling novel that opens in the early years of the 20th century, during Germany’s brutal colonial rule in East Africa. Oscillating between the personal and political, Gurnah opens the imagination, the connections between that moment, what followed in Europe, and our own struggles to grapple with the legacies of colony and race. The final pages are as devastating as any I have read. A brilliant and important book for our times, by a wondrous writer (Philippe Sands)
Riveting and heartbreaking ... A compelling novel, one that gathers close all those who were meant to be forgotten, and refuses their erasure. (Maaza Mengiste)
In clean, measured prose, Gurnah zooms in on individual acts of violence ... and unexpected acts of kindness. Affecting in its ordinariness, Afterlives is a compelling exploration of the urge to find places of sanctuary
A remarkable novel, by a wondrous writer, deeply compelling, a thread that links our humanity with the colonial legacy that lies beneath, in ways that cut deep (Philippe Sands)
To read Afterlives is to be returned to the joy of storytelling as Abdulrazak Gurnah takes us to the place where imagined lives collide with history. In prose as clear and as rhythmic as the waters of the Indian Ocean, the story of Hamza and Afiya is one of simple lives buffeted by colonial ambitions, of the courage it takes to endure, to hold oneself with dignity, and to live with hope in the heart (Aminatta Forna)
Effortlessly compelling storytelling ... Gurnah excels at depicting the lives of those made small by cruelty and injustice ... A beautiful, cruel world of bittersweet encounters and pockets of compassion, twists of fate and fluctuating fortunes ... You forget that you are reading fiction, it feels so real (Leila Aboulela)
As beautifully written and pleasurable as anything I've read ... The work of a maestro
An aural archive of a lost Africa ... alive with the unexpected. In it, an obliterated world is enthrallingly retrieved
Rarely in a lifetime can you open a book and find that reading it encapsulates the enchanting qualities of a love affair ... one scarcely dares breathe while reading it for fear of breaking the enchantment
Many layered, violent, beautiful and strange ... a poetic and vividly conjured book about Africa and the brooding power of the unknown
All stars
Most relevant
I learnt so much new about German colonial activities in East Africa. This was delivered by a captivating story about the lives of those living through those realities. The characters were well described and easy to identify with. I found myself really eager to discover what happened to Elyas. The descriptions of the towns, buildings, streets and food made the environment easy to visualise.

Great new learning and a great story

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Gurnah described a moment and place in history i knew nothing about, which held my interest sufficiently to the end . But i found it tough- going. His style here is very matter- fact and rather pedestrian. This was not helped by the narrator who, though he did a reasonable job at giving voice to the characters, told the story in a repetitive, monotonous report- giving manner, which drained the drama from the narrative and failed to hold my attention for long. I am not inclined to read any other books by this author.

Interesting subject, unremarkably told.

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The actor here, Damian Lynch, has performed Shakespeare in German in Germany, so is well able to handle the short passages of German that give an authentic flavour to the setting in German East Africa in the book. He is a perfect choice for the novel.

A great introduction to the work of the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Lynch a great reader of this book

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Couldn't stop listening to it. Well written and a really interesting story/stories. I wish it didn't finish so quickly

Interesting mix between reality and fiction

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I enjoyed this book, I'm looking forward to coming back to it when the author writes the ending.

Left me wanting more, literally

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