Celebrate Sierra Leone’s Independence Day with These 9 Sierra Leonean Literary Gems

April 20, 2023

Sierra Leone’s Independence Day is on April 27 and it is the perfect occasion to curl up with these amazing books written by Sierra Leonean writers to honor the literary and political heritage of this African nation.

We want to take this opportunity to celebrate some of the best literary treasures Sierra Leone has produced. Some of the books include gripping memoirs such as Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier and Eldred Jones’ The Freetown Bond: A Life under Two Flags. However, the large majority of the books below are breathtaking novels written by Sierra Leone’s finest such as Aminatta Forna’s award-winning title The Memory of Love, Namina Forna’s feminist fantasy tale The Gilded Ones, and Syl Cheney-Coker’s expansive novel The Last Harmattan of Alusine Dunbar.

Check out the booklist below to find some literary gems just in time for Sierra Leone’s upcoming Independence Day!

The Memory of Love

464 pages

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A work of breathtaking writing and rare wisdom, The Memory of Love seamlessly weaves together two generations of African life to create a story of loss, absolution, and the indelible effects of the past—and, in the end, the very nature of love. (Grove/2011)

A Long Way Gone

229 pages

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In the more than 50 conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them. Beah, now twenty-five years old, tells a riveting story: how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army, and Beah found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. (Sarah Crichton/2008)

The Gilded Ones

416 pages

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Deka, a 16-year-old, lives in Otera, a patriarchal kingdom where a woman's worth is tied to her purity, and she must bleed to prove it. When Deka bleeds gold, the color of impurity, she faces a consequence worse than death. She is saved by a stranger who tells Deka that she is a near-immortal with exceptional gifts, and offers her a choice: fight for the Emperor or be destroyed. (UK: Usborne; US: Delacorte/2021)

The Last Harmattan of Alusine Dunbar

398 pages

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In a chimerical world of illusion and truth, fired by a language that challenges the imagination, this book tells the story of a Sierra Leone-like country, from the time of the freed black American slaves who returned to Africa. (Heinemann/1990)

The Freetown Bond: A Life under Two Flags

188 pages

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Born in 1925, the account of his early years gives a vivid picture of growing up in Freetown in the latter days of British colonial rule. He was an exceptional young man who was able to take advantage of the unusual style of this city-state for the purpose of education. (James Currey/2012)

So the Path Does Not Die

296 pages

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Protagonist Fina's search for happiness and belonging begins on the night of her aborted circumcision and continues through her teenage years in Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital; her twenties in the Washington Metropolitan Area; and ends with her return to Sierra Leone to work as an advocate for war-traumatized children. (Langaa RPCIG/2012)

Breaking the Maafa Chain

480 pages

BUY NOW

A richly imagined story of two sisters' struggle for true freedom in the mid-nineteenth century as their paths diverge in the middle passage – one to the court of Queen Victoria, the other to an American plantation. Based on the true story of Sarah Forbes Bonetta, Breaking the Maafa Chain will take readers on a journey of loss, survival, and hope. (Pegasus/2022)

The Response of Weeds: A Misplacement of Black Poetry on the Prairies

108 pages

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Bertrand Bickersteth's debut poetry collection explores what it means to be black and Albertan through a variety of prisms: historical, biographical, and essentially, geographical. (NeWest/2020)

Stories from the Tenants Downstairs

224 pages

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In eight interconnected stories, Sidik Fofana conjures a residential community under pressure. We root for the tight-knit cast of characters as they weave in and out of one another’s narratives, working to escape their pasts and blaze new paths forward for themselves and the people they love. All the while we brace, as they do, for the challenges of a rapidly shifting future. (Scribner/2022)

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Celebrate Sierra Leone’s Independence Day with These 9 Sierra Leonean Literary Gems

The Memory of Love

The Memory of Love

A Long Way Gone

A Long Way Gone

The Gilded Ones

The Gilded Ones

The Last Harmattan of Alusine Dunbar

The Last Harmattan of Alusine Dunbar

The Freetown Bond: A Life under Two Flags

The Freetown Bond: A Life under Two Flags

So the Path Does Not Die

So the Path Does Not Die

Breaking the Maafa Chain

Breaking the Maafa Chain

The Response of Weeds: A Misplacement of Black Poetry on the Prairies

The Response of Weeds: A Misplacement of Black Poetry on the Prairies

Stories from the Tenants Downstairs

Stories from the Tenants Downstairs

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