This collection of short stories sees Ama Ata Aidoo, one of Africa’s leading feminist and postcolonial writers, exercise the powerful effect of oral storytelling in her moving tales of shifting identities and the paradoxes of womanhood.

Written with vibrant candour and tenacity, No Sweetness Here tackles the challenges of postcolonial Ghana, with topics ranging from the politics of wigs to the fragile joy of motherhood.

In this collection, tradition struggles against modernisation, convention against liberation and all the while, Aidoo invites the reader to confront life’s injustices with her characteristic humour and poise.

'Even at her gravest, Aidoo writes with a sunny charm.' New York Times
'Beautifully written.' English Magazine

Even at her gravest, Aidoo writes with a sunny charm * New York Times *
Aidoo's particular understanding of inter-generational relationships and crisp dialogue give a clear and uncompromising portrayal of cross-cultural barriers -- Charlotte H. Bruner
A subtle criticism that cuts as sharply as a razor. There is not a single dull story in the eleven * Daily Nation *
Beautifully written * English Magazine *

Ama Ata Aidoo was born in 1942 in Saltpond, Ghana and was a celebrated author, poet, playwright, and academic. As one of Africa's leading feminist writers, she obtained a B.A. degree in English at the University of Ghana and has taught at universities in Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, and North America.

She established the Mbaasem Foundation in 2000 to promote and support the work of African women writers. In 2017, a new centre for creative writing – the first of its kind in West Africa – was named in her honour.

Aidoo has received several awards including the Nelson Mandela Prize in 1987 for her collection of poetry, Someone talking to Sometime (1985) and the 1992 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book (Africa) for her novel Changes (1991).

Ama Ata Aidoo died in 2023.