[7][8][9][10] It won the 2003 Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Africa category[11][12] Maya Jaggi writing for The Guardian reviewed that: "...(S)ombre, gripping and at times humorous..." that it was "...Cleverly constructed in seven parts, it deftly moves back in time from a period after military rule has ended.

(...) In realist vein, the novel's artistry is manifest in the mordant strength and clarity of its language, and its compelling structure.

"[4] For James Urquhart of The Independent "...These unchronological chapters, the feeling of drift in the first half of this book, and Lomba's rather stilted, passionless demeanour, gradually cement into a compressed core of determination to be counted, to resist oppression.

(...) Habila's well-crafted novel captures both the sense of mental unbalance of living under a dictatorship and the sacrifices, personal and public, that must be offered to chip away at its ferociously blank face.

"[13] Dave Gilson of San Francisco Chronicle noted "...Habila's prose is clean and unself-conscious, and he switches easily from dialogues in pidgin to classical references.