Uhuru Street

With delicate strokes, MG Vassanji brings alive the characters who live and work in the shops and tenements of Uhuru Street: Roshan Mattress, so called because of her free and easy ways; baby, the obese daughter of a grocer, indulged but amiable; Ahmed, the street-wise orphan fighting for survival though like most bullies 'an expert at marbles'. Even the street itself breathes life and symbolises the comradeship of this Asian community.

The stories take us from the late colonial days of sheltered innocence in the 1950's through to the 1980's when many of the characters have moved away from the confines of their community only to find their hopes and aspirations replaced by harsh realities, and the spirit that was Uhuru Street is no more than a nostalgic dream.

In this unique collection of short stories from the Commonwealth prize-winning author of The Gunny Sack and No new Land, the curtain is drawn back to reveal life in the Asian community in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania - its customs, traditions and prejudices.