The Last Gift of the Master Artists

Booker Prize-winning author Ben Okri’s latest novel, this tale of the time immediately before the arrival of the Atlantic slave trade restores a lost history to Okri’s Nigerian homeland.

A novel about life in the time immediately before the arrival of the Atlantic slavers. Two lovers meet for the first time. One is the son of a king, struggling to find his place in the world, the other is the gifted daughter of a master craftsman from a famous but secretive tribe...

‘One of the most beautiful and profound novels I’ve read in ages’ Washington Post
‘A magical take on Africa before the arrival of the Atlantic slave ships’ Independent
‘Takes on the great riddles of existence’ New York Times

By a riverbank in Africa, two lovers meet for the first time. They make a promise to meet again the next day, same time, same place, but only one of them shows up.

This sounds like the beginning of a love story, but it’s more than that, for this breathtaking tale takes the reader into the heart of a vibrant world, a complex and intriguing civilisation of warriors and kings, philosophers and artists, parents and lovers. A world and culture which is about to end for, glimpsed on the horizon, seen but unsuspected, beautiful ships with white sails are waiting...