“Unquiet on the Eastern Front” by Wole Talabi

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Rating: 3/5 Stars

A story told in the form of letters, it tells the tale of an English soldier in Africa and is now there, preparing to lead his soldiers during World War II. But he is troubled with visions of a monster, known to the locals as Ngoloko, and with the way his local soldiers are being treated as ‘less than human’ by other Europeans he encounters during his march to battle.

During his first encounter with Italian forces, he discovers that the monster is real and wants to purge the country of colonials. But he believes being born in Africa may get him treated differently by the Ngoloko. We only discover his fate with the final letter in the story.

Book read from 2025/01/22 to 2025/01/23