A Wreath for Udomo

First US edition (publ. Knopf)

A Wreath for Udomo is a 1956 novel by the South African novelist Peter Abrahams. The novel follows a London-educated black African, Michael Udomo, who returns to Africa to become a revolutionary leader in the fictional country of Panafrica and is eventually martyred.[1] The novel explores a revolutionary politics, exploring the diversity of actors and political communities needed to overcome colonial oppression.[1]

The novel was controversial at the time of its publication, because it represented revolutionary independence from a tropical African country, before the first such independence by the Gold Coast.[1] Critic Bernth Lindfors described the character of Udomo as being modeled off real revolutionary leaders in Africa, including Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta and Nnamdi Azikiwe.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d Lindfors, Bernth (1986). "Exile and Aesthetic Distance: Geographical Influences on Political Commitment in the Works of Peter Abrahams". The International Fiction Review. 13 (2).