The Abyssinian Chronicles

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  • Author: Moses Isegawa
  • Publisher: Picador
  • Catalogue: 143265
  • Size: 13x20cm
Moses Isegawa’s first novel Abyssinian Chronicles is a coming-of-age tale set in Idi Amin’s Uganda. A grandfather, father and son form a tripod of characters to represent the traditional order, the chaos of transition and the despair of the young. Moving between the lush and lazy remote villages and the urban rush of capital city Kampala our attention continuously shifts from one situation to the next and from one character to another.

Drenched in beauty and brutality, wisdom and ignorance, wealth and poverty, and hope and despair, Mugezi the narrator and those around him struggle to find meaning in their lives in this world of extremes. Mugezi is clearly based on the author and serves as a reflection of Ugandan life at that time; he’s resilient and resourceful but not leading the happiest of lives. His suffering is not his fault however, but a symptom of the unjust and arbitrary world which he inhabits.