3.5
Devil on the Cross
ByPublisher Description
The great Kenyan writer and Nobel Prize nominee’s novel that he wrote in secret, on toilet paper, while in prison—featuring an introduction by Namwali Serpell, the author of the multiple prize–winning novel The Old Drift
One of the cornerstones of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s fame, Devil on the Cross is a powerful fictional critique of capitalism. It tells the tragic story of Wariinga, a young woman who moves from a rural Kenyan town to the capital, Nairobi, only to be exploited by her boss and later by a corrupt businessman. As she struggles to survive, Wariinga begins to realize that her problems are only symptoms of a larger societal malaise and that much of the misfortune stems from the Western, capitalist influences on her country. An impassioned cry for a Kenya free of dictatorship and for African writers to work in their own local dialects, Devil on the Cross has had a profound influence on Africa and on post-colonial African literature.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
One of the cornerstones of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s fame, Devil on the Cross is a powerful fictional critique of capitalism. It tells the tragic story of Wariinga, a young woman who moves from a rural Kenyan town to the capital, Nairobi, only to be exploited by her boss and later by a corrupt businessman. As she struggles to survive, Wariinga begins to realize that her problems are only symptoms of a larger societal malaise and that much of the misfortune stems from the Western, capitalist influences on her country. An impassioned cry for a Kenya free of dictatorship and for African writers to work in their own local dialects, Devil on the Cross has had a profound influence on Africa and on post-colonial African literature.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesDevil on the Cross Reviews
3.5
Lacy Lee Reads
Created 18 days agoShare
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“This was a really interesting book. It was chronological, but it had changes in the content presentation over time. For example, we'd switch from a narrative to a philosophical Bibilical-like section and then move on to a completely different storyline.
The book was written in Gikuyu, which, as stated at the time of this book's publication, only about 22% of Kenyans spoke and fewer wrote. The narrator translated the book into English himself. He wrote the book, in secret, while he was imprisoned, on toilet paper - kept in hiding. He was considered more than once for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He died earlier this year in exile in the US.
The beginning infuriated me, so it drew me in quickly and I had a vested interest in the main character. As the book progressed, we were introduced to other, minor characters. I kept wondering why we were meeting these people and I didn't expect the end result at all.
I didn't know what to expect from the plot, but based on the beginning, I didn't think we'd end up, well...where we ended up!
Then the end - ah! I was getting some clues here and there and...it just ended up with me shaking my head in both belief & disbelief.
I think my favorite part was the writing itself. There were so many proverbs & aphorisms. I was tickled to read them. The prose was beautiful. I thought the writing transcended any limitations of one's language or culture.
If you like literary fiction, books that make you think, or like historical fiction, you may like this book.
Triggers: Violence, Sexual Assault, Death, Abuse, Suicide, Rape”
Jaaaaahi
Created 25 days agoShare
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Shar Kiefer
Created 3 months agoShare
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“This is a really good yet short book that shows the differences between African society and what other countries considered to be normal.”
Lisa L
Created 4 months agoShare
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Scarlett
Created 5 months agoShare
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About Ngugi wa Thiong'o
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (1938–2025) was an award-winning novelist, playwright, and essayist from Kenya whose novels have been translated into more than thirty languages. In addition to Devil on the Cross, his novels A Grain of Wheat, Petals of Blood, The River Between, and Weep Not, Child are available from Penguin Classics.
Namwali Serpell (introduction) has won the Windham-Campbell Prize, the Caine Prize for African Writing, and the Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award. The author of the novels The Old Drift and The Furrows, she was born in Zambia and now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she is a professor of English at Harvard.
Namwali Serpell (introduction) has won the Windham-Campbell Prize, the Caine Prize for African Writing, and the Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award. The author of the novels The Old Drift and The Furrows, she was born in Zambia and now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she is a professor of English at Harvard.
Other books by Ngugi wa Thiong'o
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