The Emperor's Son

“You are the tree that you brought with you, Zaiwulo. So plant it here, for it belongs to this place now, to the earth of this land far away from home.” The Emperor’s Son is a historical novel set in late nineteenth-century West Africa, during the expansion and destruction of Samori Touré’s empire and the consolidation of French and British colonial rule. It follows Zaiwulo, a boy from the forest village of Haindi who is sent to study in the walled city of Musadu and then drawn into Samori’s marching courts, capitals, and battlefields. As he comes under the influence of the scholar Talata Haidarah and the empire-builder Samori Touré, Zaiwulo is drawn into a world of books, war, and political upheaval. The story traces his journey from frightened outsider to a man who must choose between the life of a scholar and the demands of empire in a region reshaped by African rulers and advancing European powers. Through intimate family conflicts, debates among scholars and rulers, battle scenes, journeys through changing landscapes, and the recurring symbol of the flame tree that Zaiwulo plants and returns to over decades, the novel shows how African families, scholars, warriors, and traders experienced empire-building and colonization from within. By illustrating Zaiwulo’s life, The Emperor’s Son explores the ways law and religion could be used both to protect and to terrorize, and how individuals tried to hold on to knowledge, dignity, and community amid upheaval.