17 African Novels to Preorder ASAP

by Kuhelika Ghosh

March 22, 2024

Spring is the time when a bunch of new African novels come out and this year is no exception. We decided to put together a booklist of all the African novels coming out from April to June that you can preorder now!

This booklist contains 17 anticipated novels ranging from speculative fiction, young adult fiction, children’s fiction, romance to coming-of-age stories. Some of our favorites from the list are Zito Madu’s debut The Minotaur at Calle Lanza, Aiwanose Odafen’s friendship-centered narrative We Were Girls Once, Chigozie Obioma’s The Road to the Country, and Chibundo Onuzo’s children’s book Mayowa and the Sea of Words, among others.

We personally cannot wait for these scintillating novels to come out and we hope you feel the same way! Preorder links are included below. Enjoy and we hope you preorder ASAP!

With Love, Miss Americanah

With Love, Miss Americanah

320 pages

With Love, Miss Americanah―the Young Adult contemporary romance debut from Jane Igharo―sees a teenager move from Nigeria to America and navigate her senior year with the help of classic teen movies and a new crush, all while working through grief and the rigid expectations of her mother. (Feiwel and Friends/2024)

The Liquid Eye of a Moon

The Liquid Eye of a Moon

352 pages

Journeying from his small village in rural Nigeria, to Lagos, Awka, and home again, Dimkpa learns that no money is easy money, that superstition runs deep, that knowledge is power, and that sometimes it is better to live in the present than to always be chasing a future just out of reach. (Catapult/2024)

Between Friends & Lovers

Between Friends & Lovers

384 pages

To her countless Instagram followers Josephine Boateng is the dazzling Dr. Jojo—and her opinions on health, growth, and self-love matter. But behind the camera, Jo’s story is more complicated—she finds her influencer career underwhelming; her potential career in medicine overwhelming, and she’s hung up on her best friend, nepo-baby and romcom heartthrob Ezra Adelman. (Avon/2024)

The Minotaur at Calle Lanza

The Minotaur at Calle Lanza

185 pages

Zito Madu traveled to Venice for a writing fellowship where he found a deserted, silent, but still beautiful city...As he details his walks through a haunted landscape, we learn about his family’s immigration from Nigeria to Detroit, his troubled relationship with his father, his meditations on race and otherness, the small joys of daily life and solitude, and his own rage and regret. (Belt/2024)

Allow Me to Introduce Myself

Allow Me to Introduce Myself

336 pages

Ever since she was a child, Anuri’s life was chronicled and monetized by her influencer stepmother. Now an adult, she’s finally broken free. But when her stepmother starts preying on her young half sister, Anuri decides she must stop the cycle of abuse. This book is a stunning page-turner about overcoming toxic family and reclaiming identity and, ultimately, hope. (Graydon/2024)

Crooked Seeds

Crooked Seeds

240 pages

Deidre van Deventer receives a call from the South African police. Her family home, recently reclaimed by the government, has become the scene of a criminal investigation. The remains of several bodies have just been unearthed from her land, after decades underground. Detectives pepper Deidre with questions: Was your brother a member of a pro-apartheid group in the 1990s? Is it true that he was building bombs as part of a terrorist plot? (Hogarth/2024)

We Were Girls Once

We Were Girls Once

464 pages

Ego, Zina and Eriife were always destined to be best friends...forging a bond that would last generations. But over half a century later, Nigeria is a new and modern country. As the three young women navigate the incessant strikes and political turmoil that surrounds them, their connection is shattered by a terrible assault. In the aftermath, nothing will remain the same... (Scribner/2024)

Like Water Like Sea

Like Water Like Sea

272 pages

Like Water Like Sea is an immersive novel of self-discovery, resilience, and the unifying power of love. It follows the life of Nia, a queer, bi/pansexual naturopath in London, as her life unfolds across three pivotal moments, spanning from her 28th year to a life-altering realisation at the age of 50. At the heart of this gripping narrative lies Nia’s profound encounter with grief. (Cassava Republic/2024)

The Incredible Dreams of Garba Dakaskus

The Incredible Dreams of Garba Dakaskus

230 pages

This book is the story of a narrator, whose journey is delicately interwoven with innumerable characters and stories from across time and place, on an existential search for the meaning of life, the universe, and the essence of what it means to be a living being. (Masobe Books/2024)

Water Baby

Water Baby

400 pages

In Makoko, the floating slum off mainland Lagos, Nigeria, nineteen-year-old Baby yearns for an existence where she can escape the future her father has planned for her. After a video of her at work goes viral and Baby finds herself with options she could never have imagined - including the possibility of leaving her birthplace to represent Makoko on the world stage.(Quercus/2024)

The Road to the Country

The Road to the Country

384 pages

The story of a young man seeking redemption in a country on fire, Chigozie Obioma’s novel is an odyssey of love and unimaginable courage set during one of the most devastating conflicts in the history of the African continent. Intertwining myth and realism into a thrilling, inspired, and emotionally powerful novel, The Road to the Country is Chigozie Obioma’s masterpiece. (Hogarth/2024)

The Lion’s Den

The Lion’s Den

272 pages

When young queer dancer Wilbess “Bessy” Mulenga is arrested by corrupt police, rookie lawyer Grace Zulu takes up his cause in her first pro bono case. Presented with a freshly beaten client, Grace protests to the police and gets barred from accessing Bessy, who then disappears without a trace. As she fights for justice for Bessy, Grace must navigate a dangerous world of corrupt politicians, traditional beliefs, and deep-seated homophobia. (Graydon/2024)

The City is Mine

The City is Mine

Mangi and his fiancé, Aza, have been living together in the Joburg suburb of Linden for the past eight years. One day while cleaning their bedroom, Mangi discovers a deep secret that his fiancé had been hiding for a long time. The house they had been renting for eight years actually belongs to Aza. The uncovering of Aza's lie is the catalyst to the unravelling of their already tumultuous relationship. (Kwela/2024)

The Child

The Child

After a mental breakdown costs him his job in New York, a young man returns to Cape Town with his husband, Adrian. It's 2018. The drought is severe, and their homecoming is tinged with failure and reverse culture shock. But there is hope, too. They want to start a family by adopting a child. As the adoption gets underway, the narrator is forced to confront events from his own childhood he would rather avoid, and question whether he is capable of love and fatherhood. (Kwela/2024)

The Silence of the Choir

The Silence of the Choir

372 pages

Seventy-two men arrive in the middle of the Sicilian countryside. They are “immigrants,” “refugees” or “migrants.” But in Altino, they’re called the ragazzi, the “guys” that the Santa Marta Association have taken responsibility for. In this small Sicilian town, their arrival changes life for everybody. (Europa/2024)

Sister Spirit

Sister Spirit

320 pages

16-year-old adopted Tara has questions – about who she is, where she belongs, why she dreams. When her nightmares darken, fears swarm like a flock of ravens and she traces her visions to the ancient Olumo Rock in Nigeria. Travelling from England and enrolling in a boarding school at the foot of Olumo, Tara begins a journey to seek the truth of her roots and the spirits that pursue her. (Bloomsbury/2024)

Mayowa and the Sea of Words

Mayowa and the Sea of Words

304 pages

Have you ever jumped on a book? Perhaps not. Most people would think it was a rather unusual thing to do. Ten-year-old Mayowa has always thought that her Grandpa Edward, who dyes his beard emerald green and jumps on books in private, is rather unusual too. Until one day she jumps on a book for herself, and uncovers a huge family secret... Mayowa can book jump. (Bloomsbury/2024)

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