George Nyamndi provides in this work an historical and analytical study of the West African village novel. Starting with history he locates in the contact of Western and African cultures the circumstances that gave birth to the genre. He traces the development of the West African village novel through the different phases of adjustment to its present directions, underlining both its parti- cularities in theme and treatment and its similarities to other literatures of the world born of the clash of values. Particular attention is given to Elechi Amadi, a major though little-known West African village novelist. George Nyamndi focuses on Amadi's The Concubine to demonstrate the author's artistic achievements as well as the relevance of his themes to African culture and society.