Quotes
“It’s an old-fashioned tale whose earthy wisdom and shimmering magic will make you want to discover more of Couto’s work.” Vanity Fair
“Masterfully wrought…Confession of the Lioness sings with the musical nuance of a poem.” Los Angeles Times
“Couto’s work doesn’t so much blur the generic and stylistic boundaries we normally draw as explode them…Confession of the Lioness reads as a parable of human savagery and its consequences. It shows how humans might transform, literally and metaphorically, into animals; how violence, once committed, takes on an independent and inexorable life.” Boston Globe
“Inspired by real events experienced by prolific author Couto, this lyrical novel is about the many facets of fear that haunt the people in the tiny village of Kulumani, deep in the bush of Mozambique…Couto weaves a surreal mystery of humanity against nature, men against women, and tradition against modernity.” Publishers Weekly
“Couto, winner of the 2014 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, is known for his poetical writing style. Here he must share kudos with Brookshaw, whose translation beautifully captures the lyricism of this strange and disconcerting novel.” Library Journal
“A rich tale in which the spirit world is made real, animals are controlled by people, and dead ancestors are feared for their power to destroy cities. Couto also manages to explore the clash of disparate belief systems—tribal, Islam, Christian—in postcolonial Africa and deftly weaves in a critique of the embedded patriarchy…A haunting, ethereal flight of magical realism.” Kirkus Reviews
“One of the richest and most important authors in Africa.” Henning Mankell, praise for the author