by John Updike
First published 2006
Colonel Hakim Felix Ellellou finds himself thrust into power as President of Kush, a role that bears no resemblance to his training in the French army or his education at an American university. The colonel discovers that leading a revolutionary government requires skills no military academy ever taught him. His position brings unexpected complications beyond matters of state. He must navigate life with four wives, a domestic arrangement as foreign to his background as the political maneuvering now required of him. Ellellou struggles to master the delicate art of dictatorship while managing the complex dynamics of his expanded household. The demands of ruling a nation collide with the intimate challenges of his personal life, leaving him unprepared for both the public and private aspects of his new existence.
Genres: satire, 20th-century, african-literature, political-thriller
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, power-struggle
Setting: Kush
Period: 20th-century
ebook · Penguin