Riotous Assembly – Tom Sharpe

Description

Riotous Assembly by Tom Sharpe is a wickedly irreverent and darkly comic debut, offering a no-holds-barred satire of apartheid-era South Africa. First published in 1971, it remains infamous for its audacious humour and unflinching social commentary.

The story explodes into motion when Miss Hazelstone, a prim and proper English spinster in the fictional town of Piemburg, shoots her black cook dead in a moment of scandalous indiscretion. Rather than a straightforward investigation, the crime triggers a cascade of absurd events as the local police — led by the pompous and bigoted Kommandant van Heerden — scramble to contain the fallout without offending the apartheid regime’s fragile sensibilities.

As a parade of hilariously grotesque characters enter the scene, including a delusional secret police colonel and a bloodthirsty riot squad, Sharpe skewers the hypocrisy, corruption, and sheer lunacy of institutionalised racism and small-town paranoia.

Perfect for readers who enjoy savage satire, slapstick absurdity, and fearless political humour, Riotous Assembly is a riotous read in every sense of the word.