A new grace for the old order

We have recently seen a number of coming-of-age stories emerging from various African countries that mark a shift from childhood to the experiences of the youth.

- Ahmet Sait Akcay

It also says something about the new sense of growing in this time. Most of these stories bring new perspectives to understanding the African youth and the ways they treat their life to a sort of relocating themselves.

While this emerging genre focuses on the complexities and difficulties of our times, it also aspires to the future. The works are no longer confined to politics, or obsession with the past. The future is brightened in these stories, even though it is tough and stressful.

Francis Nyamnjoh’s novel, Echoes of Grace, is a stunning, bright and promising account of a Cameroonian girl who spent her adolescence in a Catholic school, Queen of Rosary of Converted Hills, where she is granted a scholarship to pursue her education.

The novel is a bildungsroman with a focus on youth development in society. It is a story of transformation into a community set in an imaginary, yet recognisable, Cameroon, which is described as a country grappling with corruption and societal ills.

It is a story of commitment that not only changes an individual’s life but also has a lasting effect on the community. The change is followed by dedication, a flame of hope ignites motivation in the protagonist, Pearl, which establishes seeds for growing socially.