"Originally published in the United Kingdom by Hamish Hamilton in 1994"--Title page verso.

"A finalist for the 1994 Booker Prize, England's highest honor for works of fiction, Paradise is at once the story of an African boy’s coming-of-age, a tragic love story, and a tale of the corruption of African tradition by European colonialism. Sold by his father in repayment of a debt, twelve-year-old Yusuf is thrown from his simple rural life into the complexities of pre-colonial urban East Africa. Through Yusuf’s eyes, Gurnah depicts communities at war, trading safaris gone awry, and the universal trials of adolescence. The result is a page-turning saga that offers a unique perspective on a seldom-chronicled part of the world"--Back cover.