Violence

Set in Benin City, Nigeria, Violence follows Idemudia and Adisa as they struggle to survive in a world rigged against them. Festus Iyayi's landmark novel exposes how poverty, labour exploitation and corrupt power structures inflict their own brutal violence – a raw, unflinching classic of African literature. Violence tells the story of Idemudia and Adisa, a couple fighting to survive in the grinding poverty of Benin City. As exploitative employers and a corrupt elite grow rich, the working poor pay with their dignity, their health and their relationships. Iyayi shows how inequality itself is a form of violence – slow, systemic and relentless. Yet amid desperation and hardship, the novel finds hope in solidarity and collective resistance. A work of fierce political clarity and deep humanity, this is a landmark of African fiction and world literature.Discover more from the APOLLO AFRICA series: the new home for 100 timeless works from the legendary Heinemann African Writers Series.