The Lions' Den
Iris Mwanza
Available as Hardback
A remarkable, big-hearted debut from Zambian-American writer Iris Mwanza set in 1990s Lusaka in which a young lawyer must fight for the life of a teenage sex worker who is accused of crimes ‘against the order of nature’
A CRIMEREADS BEST DEBUT CRIME NOVEL OF 2024
ONE OF TIME’S 100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2024
LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION 2024 FIRST NOVEL PRIZE
‘A smash of a debut’ ALEXANDER FULLER
Rookie lawyer Grace Zulu does not give up easily. She escaped an arranged marriage to put herself through university. Now she’s got her first case.
Her client is young Willbess ‘Bessy’ Mulenga, who has been arrested for offences ‘against nature’. Bessy works in a men-only bar, loves to dance, to wear dresses and live freely. But in 1990s Zambia, following your own identity can get you beaten, jailed or even worse. Grace is determined to get Bessy out of custody. Then her terrified, bruised client goes missing without a trace. She knows something bad has happened and that someone is trying to cover it up. Along with the most unlikely group of allies, Grace must take on powerful enemies at the highest levels – even risk her own safety – to get to the truth. The whole truth.
A debut novel that soars with passion and humanity, The Lions’ Den is a moving story of prejudice, corruption, injustice, courage and solidarity. It shows us that no cause is ever a lost one.
“A vibrant and pacey legal thriller with a big-hearted heroine you’ll be rooting for from the very first page”
Paula Hawkins
See more reviews
“An evocative, touching and – in multiple senses – moving portrait of Zambian life and politics at a moment of great transformation”
Namwali Serpell
“A beautiful read – short, gripping and full of intriguing characters. It blends legal procedural and activism … Mwanza gives us characters who show us why the stakes are way too high for us to sit on the sidelines”
brittle Paper
“A riveting legal thriller set in the corrupt and homophobic political world of Zambia in the early 1990s … Mwanza brings her experience as both a former lawyer and a native of Zambia to this provocative page-turner”
time
“[A] stellar debut mystery”
washington Post
Iris Mwanza
Iris Mwanza is a Zambian-American writer. Now Deputy Director of Women in Leadership in the Gender Equality Division of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, she has worked as a corporate lawyer in both Zambia and the US. Mwanza holds law degrees from Cornell University and the University of Zambia, and an MA and PhD in International Relations from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. In addition to her work at the Foundation, Mwanza serves on the Supervisory Board of Care International and on the Board of Directors of World Wildlife Fund US.
@IrisMwanza