The Price of Liberty

Kwesi, a dashing young man, comes of age as his country, Sianga, achieves independence from the British. He is certain of a bright future. As the years pass he watches his dreams crumble even as he serves the very government he blames for the deterioration. Eventually he comes face to face with a terrible decision, one that will affect the entire African continent. "Easy to read, hard to put down." 1993 Commonwealth Writers Prize winner

"The panel found Paul Conton's The Price of Liberty extremely well crafted for a first work. We were struck by the topicality of its theme and its ability to address and interrogate the entire continent of Africa on personal and public levels of accountability. The panel was greatly impressed with the rich multi-dimensional quality of the narrative and especially with its ability to present human weakness from different dimensions. We found the novelist's ability to distance himself emotionally from the raw realities of situations and at the same time hold the reader's attention very rare in a first novel. Paul Conton holds his reader's attention from the beginning of his novel to the end." The Commonwealth Writers Prize official citation.