7 Memoirs Worth Reading Cover to Cover

Books

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As a reader, my first love was fiction. I remember being fascinated as a child about how a person could conceive a story that didn’t really happen, that was entirely made up, and my life has since been dedicated to trying to be that person. It would not be until much later that I would read my first non-fiction story. I remember that it was Wole Soyinka’s childhood memoir, Ake: The Years of Childhood. It was the unbelievable beauty of that book that motivated me to hunt down more of Soyinka’s memoirs, and the memoirs of other prominent figures like Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama. 

In our latest book recommendation, we have compiled a list of memoirs worth reading cover to cover. From the groundbreaking story about how a little boy became a local hero to the life and times of Africa’s first female president, the books on this list bring to life some of Africa’s most prominent figures.⁠ ⁠

Read our recommendations below.

Books
What is Africa to Me? Fragments of a True-to-Life Autobiography
Author: Maryse Condé
Genre: Non-Fiction
 

Maryse Condé was a Guadeloupean novelist and critic fondly regarded as the Grande Dame of Francophone Literature. With more than 20 novels to her name, she was a prolific storyteller, shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize in 2015 and awarded the New Academy Prize in Literature in 2018.  

What is Africa to Me? is the second memoir of this Guadeloupean literary giant, one that focuses on her adult years in Africa. It covers a period between the late 1950s and 1968, a critical period not only for Condé but also for the African continent. Within this period, Condé lives in several African countries, first moving to Guinea with her Guinean husband, then to Ghana, and then to Senegal. Through these years, she wines and dines with foremost Black and African names such as Malcolm X, Maya Angelou, Che Guevara, and Julius Nyerere.  

Finally, Condé moves to Paris, reflecting on her years in Africa and what the continent means for her as a Caribbean. Full of political, intellectual, and artistic intrigue, What is Africa to Me? is a story about a woman’s search for freedom.

Books
Head Above Water: An Autobiography
AUTHOR: buchi emecheta
GENRE: non-fiction
 

At the mention of the name Buchi Emecheta, one thinks: Nigerian author, poignant semi-autobiographical novels, and the unfortunate incident of her husband burning her first manuscript. These are associations that spring easily to mind. However, the details of these bits of information are not as well-known.  

In Head Above Water, Emecheta brings readers the full, unabridged, undisguised story. The book details her life both in Nigeria and in London, where she moved to at only 19, with two ‘wet and dripping babies’, to join her husband. In London, Emecheta meets poverty and an abusive husband. When the marriage ends in divorce, she must take full responsibility for her children. While working to keep food in their bellies and a roof over their heads, Emecheta also pursues her dream of becoming a published writer—a dream she eventually achieves, but only after great persistence and perseverance.

Books
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
AUTHOR: William Kamkwamba
GENRE: non-fiction
 

William Kamkwamba is only 14 years old when his farming village experiences a terrible drought. This spreads poverty and hunger through the land. Suddenly, Kamkwamba finds himself out of school. But being a little boy that has always been interested in science and technology, Kamkwamba finds himself sneaking into the school library, convinced that he can find a way to provide water from wind. He does. With the help of the community, he builds a windmill that provides water to grow crops, bringing his village out of poverty. 

Cassava Republic Press is proud to announce the launch of their inaugural $20,000 Global Black Women’s Non-Fiction Manuscript Prize dedicated to exceptional works by Black women. Deadline: 30th June 2024. Learn more here

Books
Unbowed: A Memoir
AUTHOR: Wangarĩ Maathai
GENRE: non-fiction
 

Wangarĩ Maathai was a Kenyan environmentalist and writer who, in 2004, became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She won the prize for her political and environmental activism. Unbowed: A Memoir is her story. Published just two years after winning the prestigious prize, it narrates her life from childhood up until winning the Nobel prize. She takes us through her earliest years in Kenya, her education in the United States, and returning to Kenya, where she gets involved in environmental and political activism. 

Books
One Day I Will Write About This Place
Author: Binyavanga Wainaina
Genre: non-fiction
 

One Day I Will Write About This Place tells the coming-of-age story of one of the most compelling figures of contemporary African literature, Binyavanga Wainaina. Growing up in Kenya in a middle-class family, Wainaina is a quiet and observant little boy, experiencing the world largely through the sounds of his middle-class life. He is the reserved sibling, with a preference for reading, while his brother and sister, Jimmy and Ciru, are extroverted and energetic. Still struggling with forming his own personality, Wainaina often finds himself grooving to their rhythm.  

The memoir takes us through his school days, domestic life with a religious mother, and his travels around Kenya when he is a little older. Wainaina narrates the story in a unique, rhythmic voice that carries readers through from the first page to the last like the waves of an ocean.

Books
This Child Will Be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa’s First Woman President
AUTHOR: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
GENRE: non-fiction
 

Female presidents don’t come cheap in Africa. In 2006, Liberian politician Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the first elected female president in Africa. This Child Will Be Great is her memoir. Published in 2009, it tells the story of this incredibly accomplished woman, from her childhood and early days as a politician and advocate for justice and democracy to her imprisonment, exile, and subsequent rise to power. It is an inspirational story about how a vulnerable little girl grows up to become the most powerful woman in her society, determined to rebuild her country after a devastating civil war.  

Books
The Man Died: Prison Notes  
AUTHOR: wole soyinka
GENRE: non-fiction
 

When newly independent Nigeria broke into civil war in 1967, Nigerian author and later Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka was only 33 years old. He was, however, already a world-famous poet and playwright. As the war escalated, he would get even more famous. He was one of only a handful of prominent Nigerian figures who decried the war, and frequently published articles in national newspapers excoriating the Nigerian military government and several prominent figures who publicly expressed support for the war. With other individuals who shared his aversion to the war, Soyinka formed the Third Force, a movement that aimed for ceasefire between the two warring parties, Nigeria and Biafra. His activities with this movement led to his famous imprisonment for 22 months in 1967.

The Man Died is an account of his experiences during detention, most of which was spent in solitary confinement. Soyinka narrates his ordeal with his characteristic literary genius, painting a vivid picture not only of prison life but also of the unfortunate events that culminated in the war.