A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul

First published in 1979, a Bend in the River is a novel of the politics and society of postcolonial Africa.

Salim, a young Indian man, moves to a town on a bend in the river of a recently independent nation. As Salim strives to establish his business, he comes to be closely involved with the fluid and dangerous politics of the newly created state, the remnants of the old regime clashing inevitably with the new.