{"title":"Patrice Nganang","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePatrice Nganang\u003c\/strong\u003e crafts compelling narratives that explore the complexities of identity, culture, and history within contemporary life. His fiction often weaves rich storytelling with poignant reflections on social and political issues, inviting readers into vivid worlds shaped by both personal and collective experience.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn works such as \u003cem\u003eWhen the Plums Are Ripe\u003c\/em\u003e, Nganang’s prose is both lyrical and incisive, making his novels captivating explorations of human resilience and transformation. Readers seeking thoughtful and evocative general fiction will find his voice both distinctive and resonant.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"when-the-plums-are-ripe-by-patrice-nganang-9781250619617","title":"When the Plums Are Ripe","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn Cameroon, plum season is a highly anticipated time of year. But for the narrator of \u003cem\u003eWhen the Plums Are Ripe\u003c\/em\u003e, the poet Pouka, the season reminds him of the \"time when our country had discovered the root not so much of its own violence as that of the world's own, and, in response, had thrown its sons who at that time were called Senegalese infantrymen into the desert, just as in the evenings the sellers throw all their still-unsold plums into the embers.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this novel of radiant lyricism, Patrice Nganang recounts the story of Cameroon's forced entry into World War II, and in the process complicates our own understanding of that globe-spanning conflict. After the fall of France in 1940, Cameroon found itself caught between Vichy and the Free French at a time when growing nationalism advised allegiance to neither regime, and was ultimately dragged into fighting throughout North Africa on behalf of the Allies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMoving from Pouka's story to the campaigns of the French general Leclerc and the battles of Kufra and Murzuk, Nganang questions the colonial record and recenters African perspectives at the heart of Cameroon's national history, all the while writing with wit and panache. \u003cem\u003eWhen the Plums Are Ripe\u003c\/em\u003e is a brilliantly crafted, politically charged epic that challenges not only the legacies of colonialism but also the intersections of language, authority, and history itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Macmillan Publishers New Zealand Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48244837220588,"sku":"9781250619617","price":37.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781250619617-when-the-plums-are-ripe-1.jpg?v=1788017932"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/patrice-nganang.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}