Confession of the Lioness: A Novel - Softcover

Couto, Mia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1250097266 ISBN 13: 9781250097262

Publisher: Picador, 2016

Synopsis

A dark, poetic mystery about the tribal women of Kulumani and the lionesses that hunt them

Told through two haunting interwoven diaries, Mia Couto's Confession of the Lioness reveals the enigmatic world of Kulumani, an isolated village in Mozambique whose traditions and beliefs are threatened when ghostlike lionesses begin hunting and killing the women who live there.

The young Mariamar, whose sister was recently killed in an attack, has been imprisoned by her father in his home. Meanwhile, a marksman, the outsider Archangel Bullseye, has arrived to track the deadly lionesses, but as he pursues them in the wilderness, the hunt proves deadlier than imagined. As the predators continue to close in, and the village confronts the forces of modernity, it becomes clear that the lionesses may not be animals at all, but the spirits conjured by the village women’s ancient witchcraft.

Both a riveting mystery and a poignant examination of women’s oppression, this darkly poetic novel combines reality, superstition, and magical realism to startling effect.

About this title

Review

An Amazon Best Book of July 2015: Mia Couto, a prominent and award-winning African writer, has written a novel that shimmers like a diamond in the rough. Many years ago, a small village in Mozambique was hunted by lions. The lions killed dozens and eventually a hunter was hired to destroy the feline menace. Couto’s fable-like tale alternates between the stories of a young woman in the village and the hunter who is haunted by his past and his profession. As the days pass, the threat of the lion seems to go beyond the material world and like the people in the town you begin to wonder: are the lions real or are there darker forces afoot? Does the lion prowl to seek retribution for not honoring the dead or to condemn the men who brutally oppress women? Is the wild animal that different from the savagery of man? Translated from the Portuguese, Confession of the Lioness feels like a classic that’s been unearthed from a time long ago – it’s direct, beautifully woven and imbued with a sense of wisdom that feels, like the animal it chronicles, majestic. --Al Woodworth

About the Author

Mia Couto, born in Beira, Mozambique, in 1955, is one of the most prominent writers in Portuguese-speaking Africa. After studying medicine and biology in Maputo, he worked as a journalist and headed several Mozambican national newspapers and magazines. Couto has been awarded several important literary prizes, including the 2014 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, the Premio Camões (the most prestigious Portuguese-language award), the Prémio Vergílio Ferreira, the Prémio União Latina de Literaturas Românicas, and others. He lives in Maputo, where he works as a biologist.

About this edition

• Publisher: Picador
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1250097266
• ISBN 13: 9781250097262
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208