The Emperor's Son
“You are the tree that you brought with you, Zaiwulo. So plant it here, for it belongs to this place now, to the earth of this land far away from home.” The Emperor’s Son is a historical novel set in late nineteenth century West Africa, during the expansion and destruction of Samori Touré’s empire and the consolidation of French and British colonial rule. It follows Zaiwulo, a boy from the forest village of Haindi who is sent to study in the walled city of Musadu and then drawn into Samori’s marching courts, capitals, and battlefields. As he comes under the influence of the scholar Talata Haidarah and the empire builder Samori Touré, Zaiwulo is drawn into a world of books, war, and political upheaval. The story traces his journey from frightened outsider to a man who must choose between the life of a scholar and the demands of empire in a region reshaped by African rulers and advancing European powers. Through intimate family conflicts, debates among scholars and rulers, battle scenes, journeys through changing landscapes, and the recurring symbol of the flame tree that Zaiwulo plants and returns to over decades, the novel shows how African families, scholars, warriors, and traders experienced empire building and colonization from within. By illustrating Zaiwulo’s life, The Emperor’s Son explores the ways law and religion could be used both to protect and to terrorize, and how individuals tried to hold on to knowledge, dignity, and community amid upheaval.
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Bestselling author of mystery novels, weaving suspense and intrigue. Captivating readers with every page turn.
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Vamba Sherif’s, The Emperor’s Son is a captivating narrative about tumultuous wars and doomed alliances that is as rich in fervor as it is imaginative in reconstructing the adventurous life and times of the fabled Mande emperor, Samori Touré. In this beautifully wrought book, Sherif creates characters—imbued with the full range of human strengths and failings—who inhabit and take us along on heart-stopping journeys of life and death
The Emperor's Son is lush, immediate and brilliantly conceived. Vamba's prose challenges both writers and readers of world literature to be more thoughtful, more generous, more true to themselves
The Emperor’s Son is a bold, richly imagined and ambitious piece of historical fiction, drawing on a number of fascinating factual events to produce an evocative portrayal of a vibrant, prosperous West African empire in the nineteenth century at the cusp of the French and English colonial invasions. The region’s cultures, traditions and their economic and political civilizations are powerfully rendered through clear themes of war, love, loss, family, identity, abandonment and sacrifice, while the life and exploits of your protagonist provide a compelling central focus for your plot. The women, particularly Ma-Sona, Massah, Sarankenyi and Naminata were a strong force and they, along with Demba and Talata were memorable characters amongst a diverse and colourful cast