The President

When a salacious fictional story about the nation’s president is published, the ruling party and its supporters are enraged. As pressure grows for the story to be erased, its young author flees into hiding, carrying with him an explosive secret — and plans for revenge.

Deftly plotted and gorgeously told, The President is a nail-biting exploration of bigoted backlash against provocative art. While set in South Africa in 2012, the novel is painfully relevant to our contemporary moment, where — in too many places around the world — powerful demagogues scapegoat the marginalised, imperil human rights and brutally suppress artistic expression.