Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin. Atlantic Books (Grove Atlantic Ltd). ISBN 978 1 84354 7471. Paperback: £7.99

‘Like the Ladies Detective Agency but in Rwanda’, screams the cover of this edition. And the back. The fear with this book is that it only made the shelves because the publishers have decided we can cope with Africa if it’s dressed in a friendly story by someone with not too much of the nasty, er, African stuff about death and starvation and corruption.

If it got a good book into UK shops then never mind that unease. Luckily, Baking Cakes in Kigali is a light, funny and authentic read that introduces the reader to the complex mixture of sadness, laughter, anger and hope that runs through Rwanda a decade after genocide. Its main character, Angel, is a Tanzanian woman who lives in a compound with other foreigners and runs a cake baking business. It could be a manual for gentler, more civilised ways of doing business – tea features heavily with exchanges of conversation and skills as well as money and cakes. Indeed, it wouldn’t be a bad peacebuilding manual either.

Lots of stories weave through the book, giving a manageable introduction to the history of the genocide and its legacy. It shows a kind and friendly culture.
Angel’s personal story of grief and guilt leads to her bringing Hutu, Tutsi and expat together in a moving, happy conclusion.