A Good Man in Africa (original 1981; edition 2010)

I enjoy reading anything about Africa, fiction and nonfiction but this was not in the ranks of one of the good ones. The protagonist was totally unlikeable and had few redeeming qualities. There was humor, at least I thought it funny, how he managed to get himself into and out of all kinds of trouble and still live to tell the tale. I kept waiting for the story to get better, but then it ended. ( )

Voici le premier livre d'un diplômé d'Oxford qui, je l'espère, en écrira bien d'autres. Boyd a passé sa jeunesse en Afrique. L'histoire se déroule au Kinjanja, en Afrique occidentale. Le Kinjanja n'existe pas, mais il est plus vrai que nature : moiteurs et purulences, cancrelats et moustiques, whisky, sherry à contre-emploi. Ajoutez à cela la tortueuse préparation des élections, qui ressemblent davantage au poker menteur qu'au « libre jeu des institutions et vous aurez un cadre romanesqué décrit avec une puissance d'évocation qui fait songer à un Graham Greene sans la transcendance, un Greene sécularisé ». Voici donc de l'anti-Kipling. Adieu les fastes de l'Empire…

At the start of this novel the main protagonist, Morgan Leafy, is a loathsome creature. A British diplomat serving as First Secretary to the Commission in the fictional West African country of Kinjanja, he is pretty much a caricature of all the worst elements of the role. Racist, selfish, jealous and quite over-bearing. It's a wonder his local mistress can stand to stay with him or he with her after she gives him a nasty dose of gonorrhoea and just at the wrong time too as he's just started going out with Priscilla, the daughter of his boss.

Leafy is also involved with a local politician, Sam Adekunle, and his wife and with elections coming up his boss has charged him with overseeing the British interest for the most favoured party. So when he's found in a compromising position by Adekunle, he ends up getting it from both sides. Adekunle wants Leafy to bribe the head of the university as he needs a land deal to go through to help with funds for his election campaign and now he has a hold over Leafy he uses him as a go-between.

The first part of the book sets the scene before then travelling backwards in time to describe how these events came to pass with the whole kit and caboodle ending up in the hands of one Morgan Leafy and by the end of the book you're actually feeling quite sorry for the man. That's quite an achievement in itself by the author and when you throw in some highly amusing scenes as well as some cringe-worthy moments and it all adds up to a fairly decent read. ( )

This book is about Morgan Leafy who works as a British diplomat at the Deputy High Commission in the fictional west African country of Kinjanja. It is a comedy and follows his frustrations and exploitations as a series of events unfolds.The backdrop is the town of Nkongsamba and there is a cast of characters including the Deputy High Commissioner, Mr Fanshawe, and his family, a young public-school upstart Dalmire, the Commission's doctor and a local big-wig and his wife.

I tried to hate this book. To begin with I found the humour puerile and I was frustrated throughout with the role of women in the book. There was not one strong female character and each and every one was a source of sexual entertainment of some description for Mr Leafy and not one of them managed to keep her clothes on. Mr Leafy himself is not an attractive person, physically or personally, so I found it hard to believe his success with the opposite sex. This book was published in 1981 so I suppose attitudes were different back then. Having said that, William Boyd was teaching at St Hilda's College, Oxford, when he wrote this so I would have thought he'd have come across some decent role models for his characters.

As the book went on I began to enjoy it. Anyone who has worked in a job they don't enjoy can relate to Leafy's predicament. Being delegated impossible tasks which your boss refuses to take responsibility for, making an idiot of yourself, not fitting in with those around you and making monumental cock-ups that you can't see any way out of. The colonial expat scene adds to the farcical setting as the cast drink their gin and tonics, hold cocktail parties and lounge by the pool whilst remaining oblivious to the fact that the country is on the brink of a military coup.

Morgan Leafy himself is not a likeable character so the reader gets a certain amount of satisfaction from his mishaps. At some points he is downright nasty, slapping his mistress across the face and being mean and contrary towards his servants. His downfall is quite satisfying - he brought much of it on himself - but you do want to keep reading to see how things work out.

The book all comes together in an exciting climax with a memorable twist that makes the mind boggle. I won't give it away but Mrs Fanshawe comes into her own!

Overall I enjoyed this one and would recommend it to someone who doesn't take life too seriously. It is dated and irritating but it comes good in the end. ( )

Some good laughs in this, and some gloriously toe-curling situations, but it took a while to get to them as the start was rather slow. Also (and rather a lame objection, I know), I found the main character's name a bit silly. ( )