"First published in Gikuyu by Heinemann Educational Books (East Africa) Ltd 1980. English-language edition translated by the author published in Great Britain by Heinemann Educational Publishers 1982. This edition with an introduction by Namwali Serpell published in Penguin Books 2017"--Title page verso.

"The great Kenyan writer and Nobel Prize nominee Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʼo's powerful fictional critique of capitalism One of the cornerstones of Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʼo's fame, Devil on the Cross was written in secret, on toilet paper, while Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʼo was in prison. It tells the tragic story of Wariinga, a young woman who moves from a rural Kenyan town to the capital, Nairobi, only to be exploited by her boss and later by a corrupt businessman. As she struggles to survive, Wariinga begins to realize that her problems are only symptoms of a larger societal malaise and that much of the misfortune stems from the Western, capitalist influences on her country. An impassioned cry for a Kenya free of dictatorship and for African writers to work in their own local dialects, Devil on the Cross has had a profound influence on Africa and on post-colonial African literature"-- Provided by publisher.