The Great Farini would stride on to the stage and announce, 'Ladies and gentlemen, and now for the highlight of the day, the ferocious Zulus.' The impresario Farini introduced Em-Pee and his troupe to his kind of show business, and now they must earn their bread. In 1885 in a bustling New York City, they are the performers who know the true Zulu dances, while all around them fraudsters perform silly jigs. Reports on the Anglo-Zulu War portrayed King Cetshwayo as infamous, and audiences in London and New York flock to see his kin. What the gawking spectators don't know is that Em-Pee once carried nothing but his spear and shield, when he had to flee his king. But amid the city's squalid vaudeville acts appears a vision that leaves Em-Pee breathless: in a cage in Madison Square Park is Acol, a Dinka princess on display. For Em-Pee, it is love at first sight, though Acol is not free to love anyone back.

Em-Pee and the Dinka Princess and other characters are vivid and unforgettable Mda has created a memorable story from the scant records of the time This may be Mda's most heartbreaking love story and best work yet The author will be travelling to South Africa to promote his novel

About the Author
Zakes Mda is the author of the novels Ways of Dying and The Heart of Redness, among many others. Born in the Eastern Cape, he spent his early childhood in Soweto and finished his school education in Lesotho. He is a prolific author of novels, plays, poems and articles for academic journals and newspapers, whose writing has been translated into twenty languages. His creative work also includes painting, and theatre and film productions. Mda is a recipient of South Africa's Order of Ikhamanga. In 2017, his novel Little Suns won the Barry Range Fiction Prize. He is based in Athens, Ohio, where he spends his time writing and painting.


Book Information
ISBN 9781415210154
Author Zakes Mda
Format Paperback
Page Count 208
Imprint Umuzi
Publisher Penguin Random House South Africa