Black Ghosts: A Journey Into the Lives of Africans in China

(Paperback, Main)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

A FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR: TRAVEL

China today is a land of opportunity for African people blocked from commerce with most of Europe and Northern America. It is also an intersection of racism and prejudice.

Noo Saro-Wiwa goes in search of China's 'Black Ghosts', African economic migrants in the People's Republic. Living in clustered communities, they are key to the trade between the continents. Her fascinating encounters include a cardiac surgeon, a drug dealer, a visa overstayer and men married to Chinese women who speak English with Nigerian accents. This is a story of intersecting cultures told with candour and compassion, focusing on the shared humanity between the sojourner and their hosts.

Reviews

'An impressionistic but revealing account of a journey through a separate and nebulous universe' - Financial Times

'A gripping examination of a little-known land: the one Africans occupy in China or, more accurately, in Guangdong . . . A revealing book' - SARA WHEELER

'A marvellous yet unlikely book, travel with a theme, the revelation of modern China by investigating the underclass of African immigrants . . . Noo Saro-Wiwa is a brave and resourceful traveller-interrogator - outstanding in the so-called travel writing genre' - PAUL THEROUX

'Absolutely fascinating . . . the portraits are heart-rending [and] fantastic' - BBC Radio 4, Start the Week

'Shrewd and enthralling . . . The portraits [Noo Saro-Wiwa] presents are enlightening and affecting and a valuable contribution to this still poorly documented migration' - Geographical

'' -

Author Bio

Noo Saro-Wiwa was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and raised in England. She attended King's College London and Columbia University in New York. She is an author and journalist currently working for Conde Nast Traveller. Her first book, Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria, was published in 2012 and was named Sunday Times Travel Book of the Year, nominated by the Financial Times as one of the best travel books and included as one of the 10 Best Contemporary Books on Africa by the Guardian. It was also shortlisted for the Authors' Club Dolman Travel Book of the Year Award in 2013 and won the Albatros Travel Literature Prize in 2016.

@noosarowiwa | noosarowiwa.com