Sunset in the Morning

Sunset in the Morning is a tragic novel whose simplicity, rare imagery, idiom and accent carries the torch of modern African literature. In the novel Ndoda, a seasoned former liberation struggle fighter, is appointed to spearhead development in Uzumba. Initially he is a hero but the trappings of power transform him into a ruthless dictator who brooks no criticism. Ndoda's autocratic rule is, however, fiercely opposed by David Kaseke, a high school teacher and Rufaro, a law student who are both gruesomely tortured. The plot is filled with hair-raising scenes, brutality, injustice, suffering, patriotism and love which the reader must experience. The novel breathes truth and reality in our contemporary world in which the powerful trample on the powerless. In a final episode of chilling tragedy, Ndoda is found dead on his gold-plated mahogany bed, having been haunted by the ghost of a spirit medium he had previously ordered to be killed. His benevolent will, though, raises new hope for the people of Uzumba.