What ought to I learn earlier than I pack my luggage?
Nii Ayikwei Parkes’s “Tail of the Blue Chicken” brings the town to life. This slim novel is ready in Accra and Sonokrom, a small village. Kayo, a forensic pathologist working in Accra, has been pressured by a high-ranking police officer to research a sinister discovery within the village.
The novel’s lyrical prose and wealthy dialogue, which includes Ghanaian phrases and phrases, make it pleasant to learn. Via Kayo’s work, outings with buddies and encounters with the police, we see completely different points of life in Accra, whereas his time in Sonokrom and interactions with the village’s intriguing inhabitants provide a glimpse of how individuals exterior the middle relate to the town.
In case you choose nonfiction, Ato Quayson’s “Oxford Road, Accra: Metropolis Life and the Itineraries of Transnationalism” affords a superb introduction to the town. It takes the reader on a journey via Accra’s historical past, displaying its evolution from a fishing village to a port city throughout British colonial rule, to a vibrant metropolis that attracts in individuals from across the nation and the world. With Oxford Road, a bustling business hall, as a place to begin, Quayson evokes the sights and sounds of the town with eager consideration to how individuals work together with one another and their environment. Forays into the salsa and health club scenes underline the transnational dimensions of life in Accra.
What books or authors ought to I deliver together with me?
Accra is on the coronary heart of Yepoka Yeebo’s “Anansi’s Gold: The Man Who Looted the West, Outfoxed Washington, and Swindled the World.” This work of nonfiction is a wild experience about one of many boldest scams of the Nineteen Seventies and ‘80s, carried out by John Ackah Blay-Miezah, a charismatic Ghanaian. Blay-Miezah promised big returns to hundreds of traders from around the globe, tied to a bogus belief fund allegedly arrange by Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president. Whereas Blay-Miezah focused victims the world over, his dealings with authorities officers and different businesspeople in Accra facilitated his rip-off and, finally, contributed to its finish. The ebook is a meticulously researched and riveting account of politics and cash in post-independence Ghana.
Fictional tales of homicide will also be doorways into Accra. In “Sleep Nicely My Woman,” by Kwei Quartey, a feminine detective’s investigation of a homicide affords a glimpse into the lives of the wealthy and the not-so-rich of the town. In Kobby Ben Ben’s “No One Dies But,” Accra is the scene of thriller and intercourse, in a gathering of Ghana and its diaspora.
