Afterlives

Set in East Africa during and after German colonial rule, Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Afterlives is a powerful novel of love, resilience, and the long shadows of empire. Through interconnected lives, Gurnah reveals how ordinary people navigated violence, displacement, and exploitation while clinging to dignity and hope. His prose is elegant and deeply humane, balancing historical weight with intimate character portraits. The novel confronts the erasures of colonial history, giving voice to those often excluded from official accounts. It is a profound exploration of survival, memory, and the complexities of liberation.