Kololo Hill

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Growing up, I had heard his name thrown around and I knew he was a bad person but I didn’t understand why. Asha is supposed to bold and unafraid, but it's only the clunky mentions of Asha holding her tongue that give us this clue about her nature.

This family drama set amidst the Asian expulsion in 1970s Uganda is a beautifully written character-driven story about the experience of being a refugee. The language here showcases the wonderful landscape and culture with details you will be amazed at as the words shine a focus on details that make this novel sing.

Ashamed to say I didn’t know much about the Asian expulsion in Uganda and feel pleased to have read this fictionalised account. The later half speaks about the changed lives of the family and their struggle coping in London to make ends meet; the fear, insecurity, lack of intimacy due to separation in the early months of marriage, loss of pride and the insolent reminders to “go back to your own country” by those around. Then to face the challenge of trying to build a life with nothing, in an alien land and language, amongst people who may not welcome you.

In Kololo Hill, Shah brings the backdrops of Uganda and Britain into vivid life as she explores themes of belonging, displacement and cultural identity. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others.However, I adore the mutual respect that they have for each other and the way that their relationship deepens throughout the book! Already living in fear, the family are stunned when Amin makes his declaration, leave the country in 90 days, take only what you can carry, leave your homes, businesses and money behind and don’t come back.

Not only does this family have to face the fear and challenge of starting a whole new life in a strange country, but to do it with very little money. It furthermore shows the cruelty, harassment and public beatings by Idi Amin’s soldiers towards Asians and other minor Ugandan tribes.Shah brought the novel to its end point with authenticity and a sense of what the future would hold for all concerned. Later, in 1972 General Idi Amin declared that Ugandan Asians were ‘bloodsuckers’ and ‘burdens on the state’. for a book centred on homelands, from a village (can't remember the name) in Gujurat to Kololo Hill in Kampala to some suburb in London, there was no description of the setting, except for a brief explanation of the history of Kololo Hill. The story revolves around a middle-aged couple, their two sons, and their daughter-in-law as well as their house-boy, December.

At first a slow burn, KOLOLO HILL draws readers in with its richly imagined, profoundly human characters all of whom have different opinions about how to deal with the experience of being banished from their homeland. In 1972, Idi Amin declared that Britain would need to take responsibility for the Asians who were brought to Uganda. In an evocative and fluid manner, she highlights the essence of the story—home, the sense of belonging, loss, and survival.In 1972, a devastating decree was issued that all Ugandan Asians must leave the country in ninety days. Pran, the dominant head of a family who is passionate and prideful of his family business, doesn’t believe in the soon-to-be-true rumours of this forced expulsion.