Confession of the Lioness

Mia Couto, born in Mozambique in 1955, is one of the most prominent writers in Portuguese-speaking Africa. His books, deeply rooted in the political upheavals, languages and narratives of his native land, have been published in more than 20 countries. He has won many awards, including the 2014 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, and has been selected for the 2015 Man Booker International Prize shortlist. He lives in Maputo, and works as a biologist.

"One of the richest and most important authors in Africa" -- Henning Mankell "Somber and masterfully wrought... Sings with the musical nuance of a poem" LA Times "Written in a prose both aphoristic and lush, which suggests rural speech yet creates a far richer texture, Confession of the Lioness opens as an exploration of a crisis that has multiple roots yet reaches a denouement that blames Kulumani's problems on a single malaise" -- Stephen Henighan The Times Literary Supplement "A radical call for change framed in a semitraditional form; a book of profound disenchantment written in language that seeks to re-enchant the world" -- Hedley Twidle Financial Times "Couto renders the politics of everyday living poetically but his focus on the status and treatment of women displays a stout refusal to look away from a harsh reality - fiction brings us closer to the truth here than mere facts ever could" -- Ellah Allfrey Guardian