The Official Wife

Liz is locked in a meaningless, loveless marriage with a (modern-day) polygamous husband. The second wife, apparently an educated and independent woman, becomes her competitor, and intimacy or tenderness with her husband becomes impossible for her. The author tells the story in a laconic style, and with sharp humour, making observations and criticisms about women’s experiences of traditional and modern day marriage and polgamy in Africa, as well as her culture’s uncritical reception of western ways. This is a new novel from one of Uganda’s most prolific writers and critics.