Onitsha by JMG Le Clezio. Very beautifuly written and with a haunting, powerful story to tell about the devastation wrought in Africa by succesive waves of colonialism (imperial and then corporate). It's seen through the eyes of a young European boy who goes to live in the town of Onitsha in 1948, and to lesser extent his father, an oil company executive who is obsessed with uncovering the area's ancient history by tracking down myths and legends and his mother, who is not able to fit in with the colonial society of the town with its casual acceptance of 'native' slave labour.