Ferguson provides a template for novels about Africa other Western authors would do well to contemplate. Most importantly, Winston, Nnamdi and Amina do not exist merely to cast an edifying light on Laura, but, as she belatedly comes to appreciate, have inner lives, goals and ambitions of their own.

Ferguson avoids many of the pitfalls of this genre every terrible action has a motivation, Nigeria's present calamities have a historical and international context. A car tumbles through darkness down a snowy ravine.A woman without a name walks out of a dust storm in sub-Saharan Africa.And in the seething heat of Lagos City, a criminal cartel scours the Internet, looking for victims.Lives intersect. Will Ferguson 419 Kindle Edition by Will Ferguson (Author) Format: Kindle Edition See all formats and editions Kindle 13. White North Americans grappling with the %E2%80%98matter of Africa' is an often fraught affair, bright white teeth contrasted with chocolate skin, where tides of causeless violence wash across the hopeless continent and exoticized, sexualized natives exist solely to provide a supporting cast for white protagonists. Will Ferguson takes readers deep into the labyrinth of lies that is '419,' the world’s most insidious Internet scam. The desperate lies from Nigerian criminals and selfish exploitations represented in the novel, however, are responsible for much of the human development throughout. Despite the terrible events of the book, the author leaves room for hope of a better tomorrow. In Will Ferguson’s novel 419, the crime that is internet scamming unfolds before the characters as a man’s life is taken and the dangers of 419 come to life. Greed contends with generosity and vengeance with forgiveness in a world where the bad prosper and acts of charity are harshly punished. Laura seeks justice for her murdered father amoral Winston chases wealth at any cost Nnamdi and Amina seek only honest employment and a chance to raise Amina's child. Ferguson's African epic, which won Canada's Scotiabank Giller prize in 2012, details the linked lives of four individuals, three African and one Canadian, drawn together by Nigeria's bloody, exploited history.

419 by Will Ferguson