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A missing boy. A corrupt system. A case that could change everything…
When young queer dancer Wilbess "Bessy" Mulenga is arrested by corrupt police, fresh-from-the-village rookie lawyer Grace Zulu takes up his cause in her first pro bono case. Presented with a freshly beaten client, Grace protests to the police and gets barred from accessing Bessy, who then disappears from the system—and the world—without a trace. As she fights for justice for Bessy, Grace must navigate a dangerous world of corrupt politicians, traditional beliefs, and deep-seated homophobia.
With the help of a former freedom fighter and the head of her law firm, who's rallying for one last fight as AIDS takes its toll on him, Grace brings together a coalition of unions, students, and political opposition to take on the corrupt administration of President Kaunda. But will justice prevail in the face of such overwhelming odds?
The Lions' Den is a gripping and enduring novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. With unforgettable characters and a thrilling plot, Iris Mwanza has announced herself as a major new talent in fiction.
"[A] refreshing, spirited debut depicting some complex social realities of 1990s Zambia…This novel would appeal to anyone interested in modern African history, the collision of religion and tradition, progressive movements, and the entanglement of power and corruption." —Booklist
"An evocative, touching, and--in multiple senses--moving portrait of Zambian life and politics at a moment of great transformation. And in the tradition of Zambian storytelling, it shows us, it teaches us, how ordinary people like Grace, in extraordinary circumstances and under persistent forces of oppression, can neverthless extend and bend the arc of justice." —Namwali Serpell, author of The Furrows: An Elegy
"A vibrant and pacey legal thriller with a big-hearted heroine you'll be rooting for from the very first page." —Paula Hawkins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Girl on the Train
"A smash of a debut ... Iris Mwanza has taken it all on, from the original reverberating assault of British colonialism to what happened next, to a sideswipe at contemporary Zambia, and she's done it with literal grace" —Alexandra Fuller, author of Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight
This information about The Lions' Den was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Iris Mwanza is a Zambian-American writer. Now Deputy Director of Women in Leadership in the Gender Equality Division of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, she has worked as a corporate lawyer in both Zambia and the US. Mwanza holds law degrees from Cornell University and the University of Zambia, and an MA and PhD in International Relations from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. In addition to her work at the Foundation, Mwanza serves on the Supervisory Board of Care International and on the Board of Directors of World Wildlife Fund US.
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