Segu: A NovelPenguin, 1996 M09 1 - 512 pages “Condé’s story is rich and colorful and glorious. It sprawls over continents and centuries to find its way into the reader’s heart.” —Maya Angelou “A wondrous novel” (The New York Times) by the winner of the 2018 New Academy Prize (The Alternative Nobel prize in literature) and author of The Gospel According to the New World The year is 1797, and the kingdom of Segu is flourishing, fed by the wealth of its noblemen and the power of its warriors. The people of Segu, the Bambara, are guided by their griots and priests; their lives are ruled by the elements. But even their soothsayers can only hint at the changes to come, for the battle of the soul of Africa has begun. From the east comes a new religion, Islam, and from the West, the slave trade. Segu follows the life of Dousika Traore, the king’s most trusted advisor, and his four sons, whose fates embody the forces tearing at the fabric of the nation. There is Tiekoro, who renounces his people’s religion and embraces Islam; Siga, who defends tradition, but becomes a merchant; Naba, who is kidnapped by slave traders; and Malobali, who becomes a mercenary and halfhearted Christian. Based on actual events, Segu transports the reader to a fascinating time in history, capturing the earthy spirituality, religious fervor, and violent nature of a people and a growing nation trying to cope with jihads, national rivalries, racism, amid the vagaries of commerce. |
Contents
Section 1 | 3 |
Section 2 | 9 |
Section 3 | 18 |
Section 4 | 44 |
Section 5 | 96 |
Section 6 | 114 |
Section 7 | 118 |
Section 8 | 159 |
Section 20 | 259 |
Section 21 | 271 |
Section 22 | 286 |
Section 23 | 310 |
Section 24 | 327 |
Section 25 | 332 |
Section 26 | 342 |
Section 27 | 345 |
Section 9 | 170 |
Section 10 | 172 |
Section 11 | 182 |
Section 12 | 202 |
Section 13 | 208 |
Section 14 | 216 |
Section 15 | 228 |
Section 16 | 232 |
Section 17 | 234 |
Section 18 | 236 |
Section 19 | 247 |
Section 28 | 353 |
Section 29 | 360 |
Section 30 | 374 |
Section 31 | 384 |
Section 32 | 435 |
Section 33 | 447 |
Section 34 | 458 |
Section 35 | 459 |
Section 36 | |
Section 37 | |