A Good Man in Africa
by William Boydliterary work· published 1981
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A Good Man in Africa is the 1981 debut novel by British writer William Boyd. It won both the Whitbread Book Award for a first novel and the Somerset Maugham Award that year. Morgan Leafy is First Secretary to the British Deputy High Commission in Nkongsamba in the fictional West African country of Kinjanja. Leafy is unhappy in his post and struggles with various personal and professional difficulties. He becomes entangled in a range of problematic situations, including an affair with his boss’s daughter, a bribery scheme involving a local politician, and a medical crisis involving a venereal disease. Leafy is tasked with persuading a local politician, Sam Adekunle, to cooperate with the British High Commission. Meanwhile, he is dealing with his own failing health and a blackmail threat.
Adaptations (1)
A Good Man in Africa was adapted into a 1994 film.
A Good Man in Africa1994 · film · 94 min · dir. Bruce Beresford · IMDb ↗Morgan Leafy is a secretary to the British High Commissioner to an Africa nation. Leafy is a man that makes himself useful to his boss, the snobbish Arthur Fanshawe, who has no clue about what's going on around him, but who wants to use his secretary to carry on his dirty work, which involves getting one of the most powerful men in the country to do business with his country.The young secretary has an eye for beautiful women around him, especially Hazel, a native beauty, with whom he is having an affair. Things get complicated because Sam Adekunle, a man running for president of the country, wants a favor from Leafy in return after he has accepted the invitation to visit London. The proposition involves swaying a prominent doctor's opposition to a plan that will make Adenkule filthy rich.
