The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born (African Writers Series) by Ayi Kwei Armah

I read this book for the first time in high school and have just finished my third re-read. It was my first step into postcolonial African literature, and Armah managed to totally swing my reading habits in the direction of stories that were closer to home.

I’ve been trying for years to recommend this book to friends, but it's hard to describe the writing without making it seem like an entirely unpleasant reading experience – and it is deeply unpleasant. With page after page of nauseating descriptions of filth and rot to symbolise corruption in post-independence Ghana, this is no beach read – more of a loadshedding-during-a-days-long-bout-of-no-water-in-the-taps read. But it's as pertinent as ever to reflect on corruption and the trickiness of maintaining hope in the midsts of its prevalence. While we wallow in the knowledge that the people who are meant to serve us are chasing the tempting "gleam" of lives funded by missing morals, Armah reminds us that there are "beautyful ones" on the way. We may languish while we wait, but there are future politicians who won't accept the stilts that they are offered and choose instead to become the crutches that we need.

"Disgust with injustice may sharpen the desire for justice. Readers who don’t see this connection merely wish to be entertained, and I have neither skill nor desire to turn the agony of a people into entertainment.” – Armah