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  • Published: 15 April 2017
  • ISBN: 9780143107361
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 320
  • RRP: $35.00

Devil on the Cross



The great Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong'o's influential novel, written in prison, offering a powerful critique of the "Satan of capitalism" and its effect on postcolonial Kenya

A Penguin Classic

The great Kenyan writer and Nobel Prize nominee’s novel that he wrote in secret, on toilet paper, while in prison—featuring an introduction by Namwali Serpell, the author of the novel The Old Drift

One of the cornerstones of Ngũgĩ wa 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.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

  • Published: 15 April 2017
  • ISBN: 9780143107361
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 320
  • RRP: $35.00

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About the author

Ngugi wa Thiong'o

Ngugi wa Thiong’o is one of the leading writers and scholars at work in the world today. His books include the novels Petals of Blood, for which he was imprisoned by the Kenyan government in 1977, A Grain of Wheat and Wizard of the Crow; the memoirs, Dreams in a Time of War, In the House of the Interpreter and Birth of a Dream Weaver; and the essays, Decolonizing the Mind, Something Torn and New and Globalectics. Recipient of many honours, among them ten honorary doctorates, he is currently Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine.

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Praise for Devil on the Cross

"One of our century's great novels." --Tribune

"Ngugi is the most celebrated of African novelists. What he offers is nothing less than a new direction for African writing." --British Book News

"Striking." --The Guardian