Arrows Of Rain

Nigerian Okey Ndibe is the founding editor of African Commentary. This is his first novel.

A young woman runs into the sea and drowns. The last man who spoke to her, the curious individual known as Bukuru, is asked to account for the suicide. His shocking revelations land him in court. Alone and undefended, Bukuru has to calculate the cost of silence in the face of stories which must be told.

Both humorous and poignant, Arrows of Rain dramatizes the relationship between an individual and the modern African state. Okey Ndibe examines the erosion of moral insight in both public and private life, drawing out the complex factors behind the near collapse of a nation.

‘An ambitious and brave first novel, Arrows of Rain could well jump-start the moral political mission of serious African literature begun so well by Osumane, Ngugi, and the immortal Achebe.’

– Ekwueme Mike Thelwell –