Please Do Not Disturb

A funny, disturbing, and deeply affecting novel of power, corruption, and innocence in colonial Africa, by the author of Terms & Conditions. As the African nation of Bwalo prepares for The Big Day--the only day in the year the ailing King talks to his subjects--we meet five very different people: Charlie, a curious boy with a dangerous dictaphone habit, eavesdrops on the eccentric guests of the Mirage Hotel. Sean, an Irishman who's given his heart (and the best part of his liver) to Bwalo, struggles to write the great African novel--if only his crazed fiancée and fierce thirst would stop distracting him. Josef, the mythmaker and kingmaker who paved the way for Tafumo's rise to power, starts to hear the ominous rattle of skeletons in his closet. Hope, the nurse caring for the King, keeps the old man alive, maintaining the façade of the powerful ruler as she mourns her own broken dreams. And in the countdown to the Big Day, storm clouds gather as a petty criminal, Jack, smuggles something into Bwalo--specifically to the Mirage Hotel--that will change the lives of all of them forever. The funny, disturbing and deeply affecting new book by the acclaimed author of Terms & Conditions Charlie, a curious boy with a dangerous dictaphone habit, eavesdrops on the eccentric guests of the Mirage Hotel, as the African nation of Bwalo prepares for the annual appearance of its Glorious Leader Tafumo. Sean, an Irishman who's given his heart (and the best part of his liver) to Bwalo, struggles to write the great African novel? if only his crazed fiancee and fierce thirst would stop distracting him. Josef, mythmaker and kingmaker, who paved the way for Tafumo's rise to power, starts to hear the ominous rattle of skeletons in his closet. Hope, the nurse caring for the King, keeps the old man alive, maintaining the facade of the powerful ruler, as she mourns her own broken dreams. And in the countdown to the Big Day, storm clouds are gathering as petty criminal, Jack, smuggles something into Bwalo? to the Mirage Hotel? that will change the lives of all of them for ever? As the African nation of Bwalo prepares for The Big Day--the only day in the year the ailing King talks to his subjects--we meet five very different people: Charlie, a curious boy with a dangerous dictaphone habit, eavesdrops on the eccentric guests of the Mirage Hotel. Sean, an Irishman who's given his heart (and the best part of his liver) to Bwalo, struggles to write the great African novel--if only his crazed fiancee and fierce thirst would stop distracting him. Josef, the mythmaker and kingmaker who paved the way for Tafumo's rise to power, starts to hear the ominous rattle of skeletons in his closet. Hope, the nurse caring for the King, keeps the old man alive, maintaining the facade of the powerful ruler as she mourns her own broken dreams. And in the countdown to the Big Day, storm clouds gather as a petty criminal, Jack, smuggles something into Bwalo--specifically to the Mirage Hotel--that will change the lives of all of them forever On the one day a year that the ailing king of the African nation of Bwalo speaks to his subjects, a petty criminal smuggles something into the Mirage Hotel that will change the lives of everyone waiting for an audience with their ruler