Snakepit
by Moses Isegawa
Knopf $200
Set against the crumbling backdrop of Idi Amin's Uganda, Snakepit chronicles the lives of a small group of friends caught in the maelstrom of the times. At the centre of the tale is Bat Katanga. Like his namesake province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he enjoys a fleeting independence, before losing it to corruption, violence and uncertainty.
The Cambridge graduate returns to his native Uganda in time to witness the (anti)climax of Amin's rule, but not before ingratiating himself in the hope of making his fortune. Initially favoured by General Bazooka, a lackey of the regime, he becomes Bureaucrat Number Two in the Ministry of Power and Communications. But just as he's beginning to enjoy the trappings of his success - his mansion on the lake, his green Jaguar, a glittering social life - the general's influence ebbs, and with it, Bat's fortunes.
The feisty Victoria, the general's former lover, has borne Bat's child. Torn between love and patriotism, she harbours a grudge against Bat for leaving her, and thirsts for revenge meted out on Bat's wife, Babit.
Contemptuous of his sibling's lifestyle and connections, Bat's brother, the secretive Tayari, continues his apparently simple life as a pyrotechnician at society parties. But Bat soon realises his brother has found another politically productive outlet for his talents.