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  • Published: 5 April 2018
  • ISBN: 9781473549883
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 432

Petals of Blood



'A compelling novel about the tragedy of corrupting power, set in post-independence Kenya... Ngugi writes with passion about every form, shape and colour which power can take' Sunday Times


'A compelling novel about the tragedy of corrupting power, set in post-independence Kenya... Ngugi writes with passion about every form, shape and colour which power can take' Sunday Times
After decades of British rule Kenya has declared its independence, but drought and poor harvests still govern the village of Ilmorog. Undeterred, Munira, Karega, Wanja and Abdulla each move to Ilmorog in search of a more provincial life, only to find themselves suspects in a crime that signals a dark turning of the times.

A classic of modern African literature, Ngugi wa Thiong'o's damning satire of politics and corruption in Kenya would prove the catalyst for his imprisonment by the Kenyan government.

  • Published: 5 April 2018
  • ISBN: 9781473549883
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 432

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 Petals of Blood

Ambitious, caustic, and impassioned

New Yorker

A compelling novel about the tragedy of corrupting power, set in post-independence Kenya. . . Ngugi writes with passion about every form, shape and colour which power can take

Sunday Times

A compelling novel about the tragedy of corrupting power, set in post-independence Kenya. . . Ngugi writes with passion about every form, shape and colour which power can take

Sunday Times

A mind-blowing political statement, an anguished cry of despair… a bombshell

The Weekly Review, Kenya