Description

WINNER OF THE RSL CHRISTOPHER BLAND PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE SOCIETY OF AUTHORS’ MCKITTERICK PRIZE

‘Chidi Ebere has achieve something extraordinary with Now I Am Here. The book takes the voice of the oppressor, an instrument of the regime, and convincingly brings the reader into the burgeoning dark innocence of an evil heart’ – Ronan Hession, McKitterick Prize judge

We begin at the end. The armies of the National Defence Movement have been crushed and our unnamed narrator and his unit are surrounded. Prepared for defeat at the hands of the enemy and with only his sins for company, he turns to confession.

Chidi Ebere’s debut novel is a profound reflection on how good people can do terrible things – precipitated by circumstances and the violence of war. As he recounts the events leading to his disastrous finale, we learn how this gentle man is gradually transformed into a war criminal, committing acts he wouldn’t have thought himself capable.

Unflinching, thought-provoking and devastating, Now I Am Here resonates far beyond the individual story of our narrator.

Perfect for readers of Uzo Iweala’s Beasts of No Nation, Giles Foden’s The Last King of Scotland and Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Afterlives.

Publisher Review

Stunning and raw. I yearned, alongside this narrator, for the peace of undoing what has been done. — Jackie Polzin, author of Brood Clear, unsparing confession, with moments of insight, gentleness and even beauty. A powerful novel that traces the process of desensitisation, yet is seamed with tenderness. — Kiare Ladner, author of Nightshift