Missing Hillman College Already? Here Are 7 African Books to Take You Back to Campus

Honey & Spice

368 pages

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Bolu Babalola’s dazzling debut novel centers on a young Black British woman who has no interest in love and unexpectedly finds herself caught up in a fake relationship with the man she warned her girls about. Honey & Spice is full of delicious tension and romantic intrigue that will make you weak at the knees. (UK: Headline; US: William Morrow/2022)

This Seat Is Taken

452 pages

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And Then He Sang a Lullaby

304 pages

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The inaugural title from Roxane Gay Books, And Then He Sang a Lullaby is a searingly honest and resonant debut from a 23-year-old Nigerian writer and queer liberation activist, exploring what love and freedom cost in a society steeped in homophobia. (Roxane Gay/2023)

Dreaming in Colour

184 pages

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At the University of Makhanda during the #RUReferenceList campaign, Langa’s passionate relationship with Khwezi is complicated by mysterious gaps in her memory. As vivid dreams reveal hints of forgotten violations and losses, Langa grows tired of secrets and silence. Now she must decide whom to trust: her mother, grandmother, Khwezi, or herself.

Heart Analytics

412 pages

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Data-obsessed Renike Bello agrees to tutor her biggest academic rival, annoyingly attractive baseball player RJ Jacobs. What begins as a simple arrangement soon becomes something more. But when a cruel misunderstanding threatens their fragile bond, Renike must confront the fears, family expectations, and old wounds standing between her and the unpredictable love she never planned for.

Aluta

216 pages

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For eighteen-year-old Charlotte, university life is better than she’d ever dreamed — a sophisticated and generous roommate, the camaraderie of dorm living, parties, clubs and boyfriends. Most of all, Charlotte is exposed to new ideas, and in 1981 Ghana, this may be the most exciting – and most dangerous — adventure of all. At first Charlotte basks in her wonderful new freedom, especially being out of the watchful eye of her controlling and opinionated father. She suddenly finds herself with no shortage of male attention, including her charismatic political science professor, fellow student activist Banahene, and Asare, a wealthy oil broker who invites Charlotte to travel with him and showers her with expensive gifts, including a coveted passport. But Ghana is fraught with a history of conflict. And in the middle of her freshman year, the government is overthrown, and three judges are abducted and murdered. As political forces try to mobilize students to advance their own agendas, Charlotte is drawn into the world of student politics. She’s good at it, she’s impassioned, and she’s in love with Banahene. “The struggle continues! Aluta! Aluta continua!” she shouts, rallying the crowd with the slogan of the oppressed. But her love of the spotlight puts her in the public eye. And when Asare entrusts her with a mysterious package of documents, she suddenly realizes she may be in real danger. But it’s too late. As she is on her way to a meeting, Charlotte is picked up by national security, and her worst nightmares come true. And in the end, she must make a difficult and complicated decision about whether to leave her education, and her beloved Ghana, behind. A heartfelt story told with uncompromising honesty, about what happens when youthful idealism meets the harsh realities of power.

Bantu Knots

256 pages

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Young Naledi longs for the beauty and glamour she sees around her, even wishing she looked more like her light-skinned mother. Raised by her strict grandmother in Pimville, she is caught between tradition and modernity. At university, Ledi must navigate family conflict, beauty ideals, womanhood and an absent father while pursuing her dreams.