Kwaku: Or the Man Who Could Not Keep His Mouth Shut

by Roy A.K. Heath

Kwaku struggles to gain wealth and an easy life, but his foolishness constantly gets in his way.

Genres: Fiction

254 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1997

About the author

Roy Aubrey Kelvin Heath was from Guyana, where he attended the Central High School. He came to England at age 24 to read modern languages at London University. He was a teacher from 1959, and was called to the English Bar in 1964, and the Guyana Bar in 1973.

His first novel, published in 1974, was A Man Come Home, and his 1978 novel, The Murderer won the Guardian Fiction Prize. The Shadow Bride (1988) made the Booker Prize shortlist, Kirkus Review commenting that, "It's hard to believe it didn't win."

Heath's writings were widely acclaimed, Arnon Adams calling him "truly one of the most brilliant story tellers ever"; Salman Rushdie described him as "a beautiful writer"; and Edward Blishen as "simply one of the most astonishingly good novelists of our time."

Heath died in London at the age of 81.

Reviews

[Ocean G]

This book had been on my wishlist for around 10 years, and I can't remember why I put it there, but I'm really glad I did. Admittedly, this is the first book I read that has anything to do with Guyana. The slang is a bit hard to get used to, but the antics are constantly entertaining, the Guyanese backdrop is extremely interesting, and the story itself is very good and could be universal. Frankly unlike anything I've ever read.

[Kathy]

This quirky and entertaining story is somewhat in the vein of early VS Naipaul (The Mystic Masseur). Guyana is presented as a vivid tropical backdrop and the absurdities of its post-colonial society are satirised to comic effect.

[Seham]

خلال المرحلة الحرجة التي يمر بها العالم حاليا، لابد من التذكير بالآتي:
لتجنب عدوى الأصابة بفيروس كورونا
...أ -ابقي فمك مغلقا
ب- باعد عن اماكن الإزدحام
ت- تجنب الإشاعة و بث التوجيهات الملفقة داخل وسائل التواصل
ث- ثابر لدفع ما عليك من التزامات او تعويضات نحو افراد مجتمعك
ج- جاهد لفم اسباب العدوى
ح- حاذر من اختراق الحظر
خ- خروجك من بيتك خلال فترة الحظر قد يسبب مشاكل نحن في غنى عنها
جميع البنود متفق عليها دوليا، و اي خروقات لها تستلزم التعقب و المسأئلة تحت بند الجريمة و العقاب.

[Susan]

Knew nothing of this author so was interested to read his entry in Wikopedia; also the first book I've read by an Guyanese author. The dialect took some getting used to but this is a very engaging book. Kwaku is a young boy raised by an uncle who has little use for him. In his village and small community he is different, no poorer, with about the same education as others but just, as we would now call it "poor social skills." He talks too much, or too little, he's too unfriendly, or sometimes too friendly. His marriage is a success (to his surprise) and he cares deeply about his children. The novel follows him through poverty and very hard times, to much better times, and then back to hard times again. Although the author is from Guyana and the book takes place there, it could be the story of how people live and get by in much of the world.

[LauraJan Obermuller]

Good read!