Stool Wives: A Fiction of Africa

by William F. Van Wert

Kimbene is an unformed, ambitious Nigerian youth who at first has nothing to recommend him but his height. In his Ibo tribe the tallest member is automatically installed as ruler. Kimbene rises form orphan to local chief to regional king and then is faced with an even greater challenge: whether to remain in the isolated world of his highest achievement or return to his agricultural roots. A satirist in the tradition of Cervantes, Van Wert provides us with a deeper sense of the causes of trouble in present-day Africa, as well as with what it means to live to the full in any culture.

209 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996