Faceless [antikvár]

Students and scholars of African Literature who, like me, have often wondered about the apparent absence of any major female Ghanaian writers following the remarkable pioneering work of Efua T. Sutherland and Ama Ata Aidoo, can now rest assured that a worthy successor has emerged in the person of Amma Darko. With the publication of her third novel, Amma Darko has demonstrated a clear commitment to a productive career in creative writing. Her very first novel was published in a German translation in 1991 under the titie Der Verkaufte Traum, and was published in its EngUsh original in the Heinemann African Writers Series in 1995 as Beyond the Horizon and in French as Parde la h,'}riori^n. A decade or so later, we now pay homage to her third novel, simply and ominously titied Faceless, again being published in English and in German and Spanish translations. In between Beyond the Horizon and Faceless, we have The Housemaid, also published in both a German translation and in the Heinemann African Writers Series in 1998. There is more than ample evidence that these three works constitute an important trilogy and must be read as such. The first two novels have already attracted enthusiastic critical attention, most of it focusing on Amma Darko's considerable skiU in portraying the plight of women and young girls in a merciless world dominated by greedy, irresponsible and often cruel men in their life. In this brief introductory statement, I wish particularly to draw attention to the fact that taken together, these three novels by Amma Darko tell one long and disturbing tale. Sadly, it is a 9