Product Description

Set in a tribal village during the years of the Idi Amin terror in Uganda, Abyssinian Chronicles takes us into the heart of Africa, vividly immersing us in the mesmerizing extremes of beauty and brutality, wisdom and ignorance, wealth and poverty, hope and despair that define the continent today. We come to intimately know an extended family rich in centuries-old tradition, and follow the unsentimental education of the boy who takes it all in, who learns, observes and teaches, and starts to feel the very earth moving under the African experience and the people he loves.

'As Rushdie's Midnight's Children was for modern India, Abyssinian Chronicles will likely prove to be a breakthrough book for Uganda' Time Out

'A bewitching bildungsroman . . . Abyssinian Chronicles is, in every sense, a big book, exploding with big themes and a rich cast of colourful characters . . . a spectacular debut' Observer

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #250849 in Books
• Published on: 2001-08-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
In his hugely impressive Abyssinian Chronicles Moses Isegawa renders the chaotic swirl of life in Uganda, from a lazy, remote village to the urban rush of Kampala. Containing within its 460 pages weddings, funerals, infidelities, public struggles with corrupt dictatorships (a section called "Amin, the Godfather") and private struggles with God ("Seminary Years"), this is a first novel of epic ambitions. Narrated by Mugezi, the son of a man named Serenity and a woman named Padlock, Isegawa's book is wild and decentred, moving swiftly and confidently from place to place, from character to character. It is the kind of book that says, just follow, trust me, all these names and passions will sort themselves out and make sense sooner or later.

The prose itself bristles and cooks, with graceful transitions ("This time a year passed without hearing any news from Tiida") and scenes lurching with activity. Isegawa, who was born in Uganda but now lives in the Netherlands, is a master of unexpected verbs and details. Here Mugezi describes his mother's voice:

This woman knew how to irritate me on all fronts: her pathetic country-western girlie whine, xeroxed from a white nun from her convent days, the same nun from whom she had inherited the little tremolos which she sprinkled piously on the last hymn every night, really got to me.

Inconsistencies in the narrator's point of view can mar this novel and arrest its progress. The narrator will suddenly describe interior states he couldn't possibly know about: his mother's depression and loneliness, which she hides from everyone, the deepest thoughts of distant relatives. But for readers hoping to glimpse a foreign world, these bumps in the road are worth the ride. --Ellen Williams, Amazon.com

Review
'As Rushdie's Midnight's Children was for modern India, Abyssinian Chronicles will likely prove to be a breakthrough book for Uganda' Time Out 'A bewitching bildungsroman... Abyssinian Chronicles is, in every sense, a big book, exploding with big themes and a rich cast of colourful characters... a spectacular debut' Observer

About the Author
Moses Isegawa is a 35 year-old resident of Holland who emigrated from his native Uganda in 1990. He studied at a catholic seminary and taught history in a secondary school. He now has Dutch nationality and lives near Amsterdam.

Customer Reviews

An utterly captivating read, moving, funny and revealing.
Abyssinian Chronicles by Moses Isegawa is an utterly captivating novel about life in Uganda before, during and after the atrocities and confusion of Idi Amin's reign. Mugezi, the central character, narrates his life, ruled by his own personal 'despots' (his parents) who like the rest of the other colourful and believable characters in the book, find themselves vividly illustrated by the imaginative nicknames with which they are described.

At times I laughed out loud only to find myself moved and disturbed by the immense feelings the author pours out on the following page. This is one of the few books I tried to read in one sitting. The poignancy of Mugezi's struggle and that of those around him to find meaning to their lives, illuminates Isegawa's ability to bring to life such a powerful story, this book will make him a name to look out for in the future.

Why is it called 'Abyssinian Chronicles' - read for yourself and understand the links between ambitions, dreams, desires and the brutal realities that have shaped part of Africa's recent history.

Even the cover is emotive!
My copy of Abyssinian Chronicles was stolen from the back of a car in Harare by ZANU youth, who thought the picture so provocative it must be MDC literature! I just hope they now read the book...
A masterly study