No Sweetness Here and Other Stories book by Ama Ata Aidoo

Eleven stories explore life in Ghana and the clashes between traditional culture and modern changes

From the author of Changes : these stories “of post-independence Ghana in the late 1960s are written beautifully and wisely and with great subtlety” (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi).

In this short story collection, the award-winning poet and author of Changes and Our Sister Killjoy explores postcolonial life in Ghana with her characteristic honesty, humor, and insight. A house servant wonders what independence means in a country where indoor plumbing is still reserved for bosses. A brother tracks down his runaway sister only to find she has become a prostitute. In the title story, a bitter divorce turns tragic when the couple’s only child dies of a snake bite.

In these and other stories, tradition wrestles with new urban influences as Africans try to sort out their identity in a changing culture, and “even at her gravest, Miss Aidoo writes with a sunny charm” ( The New York Times ).