Petals of Blood

The novel whose publication was followed by Ngũgĩ’s detention without trial. Copyright Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o 1977; first published 1977, REPRINTED 1977 and 1978 — this copy. ISBN 0 435 90188 5 paper, 0 435 90646 1 cased. Dedicated “For my mother and Nyambura / In memory of Njinju wa Thiong’o who died on 6.4.74”. THE TITLE AND EPIGRAPH COME FROM DEREK WALCOTT’S “The Swamp”, printed in full on the dedication page — a Caribbean poet giving a Kenyan novel its name. This is the first of the six here to carry the author’s name in its Gĩkũyũ form.