Where: Dialogue Society, 402 Holloway Road, N7 6PZ
Date: 27th June 2013
Time: 18:30
With: Dialogue Society staff

Publisher's synopsis of the No Longer at Ease by Chinua Achebe

Obi Okonkwo is an idealistic young man who, thanks to the privileges of an education in Britain, has now returned to Nigeria for a job in the civil service. However in his new role he finds that the way of government seems to be backhanders and corruption. Obi manages to resist the bribes that are offered to him, but when he falls in love with an unsuitable girl - to the disapproval of his parents - he sinks further into emotional and financial turmoil. The lure of easy money becomes harder to refuse, and Obi becomes caught in a trap he cannot escape.

Showing a man lost in cultural limbo, and a Nigeria entering a new age of disillusionment, No Longer at Ease concludes Achebe's remarkable trilogy charting three generations of an African community under the impact of colonialism, the first two volumes of which are Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God. (see http://www.amazon.co.uk/Longer-Ease-Penguin-Modern-Classics/dp/0141191554/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1369137838&sr=8-5&keywords=chinua+achebe)

About the Dialogue Society Book Group

The Dialogue Society Book Group explores the capacity of books to provide windows into different cultural and intercultural worlds. We will be choosing a series of quality novels to read and then to discuss together at relaxed, sociable gatherings at the Dialogue Society. Participants are welcome to suggest books for future sessions.

Participants will need to find a copy of the book chosen for each meeting, and will need to read it prior to the meeting. Books will generally be available from local libraries.

Over refreshments we will have a conversation about the book and our responses to it. Discussion may cover:

• the quality of the storytelling
• the authenticity and accuracy with which a historical/cultural situation is portrayed
• our personal responses to it

You do not need to be an expert on literature or anything else to join in. The group should be enjoyable for anyone who enjoys a good book and likes discovering new ones.

Prospective books for future sessions (NB we are open to suggestions)

The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
World and Town by Gish Jen
A Distant Shore by Caryl Phillips
White Teeth or NW by Zadie Smith
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie