"Originally published in Portuguese in 2016 by Editorial Caminho, Portugal, as A espada e azagaia ; English translation published in the United States in 2020 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux" -- Title page verso.
Summary:
"Mozambique, 1895. After an attack on his quarters, the defeated Portuguese sergeant Germano de Melo needs to be taken to the hospital. The only one within reach is along the Inharrime River, so his lover, Imani, undertakes an arduous rescue mission, accompanied by her father and brother. Meanwhile, war rages between the Portuguese occupiers and Ngungunyane's warriors--battles waged with sword and spear, until the arrival of a devastating new weapon destined to secure European domination. Germano wants to start a new life with Imani, but the Portuguese military has other plans for the injured soldier. And Imani's father has his own plan for his daughter's future: as one of Ngungunyane's wives, she would be close enough to the tyrant to avenge the destruction of their village. With elegance and compassion, Mia Couto's The Sword and the Spear--the second volume in the prizewinning Sands of the Emperor trilogy--illustrates the futility of war and the porous boundaries between apparently foreign culture, boundaries which entire societies, but also friends and lovers, perceive to be both intractable and in decline." -- Back cover.
Series:
Sands of the Emperor: a Mozambican trilogy ; book two Couto, Mia, 1955- Areias do imperador. English ; 2.
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