When a Crocodile Eats the Sun

By Peter Godwin ,

Book cover of When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa

Book description

Peter Godwin, an award-winning writer, is on assignment in Zululand when he is summoned by his mother to Zimbabwe, his birthplace. His father is seriously ill; she fears he is dying. Godwin finds his country, once a post-colonial success story, descending into a vortex of violence and racial hatred.

His…

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Why read it?

1 author picked When a Crocodile Eats the Sun as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

A beautifully intertwined story of the decline of a man and the parallel decline of a nation, Zimbabwe, which pivots into an entirely new story: the author’s dying Christian British father was actually a Polish Jew, born Kazimierz Goldfarb, whose family was killed in Treblinka concentration camp.

Godwin’s story is ultimately inspiring and uplifting as he comes to terms with his family’s past while building his own future in his new country.

From Martin's list on the refugee experience.

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