- Series: Penguin Modern Classics
- Imprint: Penguin Classics
- ISBN: 9780141186993
- Length: 272 pages
- Dimensions: 198mm x 15mm x 129mm
- Weight: 206g
- Price: £9.99
A Grain of Wheat
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Originally published in 1967, Ngugi's third novel is his best known and most ambitious work. A GRAIN OF WHEAT portrays several characters in a village whose intertwined lives are transformed by the 1952-1960 Emergency in Kenya. As the action follows the village's arrangements for Uhuru (independence) Day, this is a novel of stories within stories, a narrative interwoven with myth as well as allusions to real-life leaders of the nationalist struggle, including Jomo Kenyatta. At the centre of it all is the reticent Mugo, the village's chosen hero and a man haunted by a terrible secret. As events unfold, compromises are forced, friendships are betrayed and loves are tested.