The novel is set in colonial Africa at a time when British invaders are ousting the natives from their land, and the Germans are planning to build a railway across the continent. Yusuf's father sells his son into slavery to pay his debts. First, Yusuf gets into the shop of the newly minted owner, and then goes on a trip around the country with a trading caravan. The collapse of the old world, tribal wars, superstitions, issues of slavery and inner freedom through the eyes of a boy, coupled with the problems of growing up and forbidden love, highlight to the reader a dense canvas in which Africa wraps its beauty and cruelty. Abdulrazak Gurna is a Nobel Laureate in literature in 2021, an English writer of Tanzanian origin. The novel "Paradise" is being published in Russian for the first time. The main novel of the 2021 Nobel Prize winner in Literature is published in Russian for the first time. Premium prose, understandable and accessible to every reader. A chronicle of growing up and first love, a tragic story of the destruction of African traditions. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1994.