The Aquatics
Osvalde Lewat author Maren Baudet-Lackner translator
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Cassava Republic Press
Published:18th Jun '26
Should be back in stock very soon
How many lies can you tell yourself before looking away becomes complicity?
In the fictional African state of Zambuena, Katmé enjoys a life of privilege as the wife of an ambitious politician. Her closest friend Samy is an artist who refuses to play by the same rules, using his work to expose the inequality and corruption beneath the regime.
When Samy’s provocative new exhibition makes him a target of the authorities, Katmé is caught between the friend she loves and the political establishment that protects her comfortable life. As the pressure mounts, the compromises she has learned to live with become increasingly impossible to ignore.
Moving from sharp satire into something altogether darker, The Aquatics is a fierce, unsettling novel about friendship, self-deception and the price of looking away.
'Lewat pulls no punches in her depiction of virulent hatred toward queer people... This one hits hard.' — Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
'The Aquatics is ultimately about the lies we are willing to tell ourselves.' — Chicago Review of Books
'Lewat has created a memorable character who alternates between moments of weakness and strength in a way that feels thoroughly human. She addresses themes of political corruption and homophobia with an incandescent anger… A promising first book from a writer to watch.' — Kirkus
'The Aquatics morphs quite quickly from satire to horror.' — The Continent
'Lewat’s prose captures beauty and brutality while examining social constraints, corruption, and what it means to live truthfully.' — Laura Chanoux, Booklist
'With brilliant craft and courage, Osvalde Lewat's stunning novel confronts the urgent questions shaping contemporary African societies: social taboos and political corruption, friendship and family loyalty, women's submission and rebellion...A fierce and unflinching work that establishes a dazzling new literary voice.' — Fatin Abbas, author of Ghost Season
- Winner of French Academy Literature Prize 2022
- Winner of Pan-African Prize for Literature 2022
- Winner of Kourouma Prize 2022
ISBN: 9781913175764
Dimensions: 216mm x 135mm x 25mm
Weight: 788g
240 pages