It is a better guide to French Colonial Africa, and to racism, than any non-fiction account, whether by African or Frenchman.
—The Times Literary Supplement

Houseboy is written in the form of a diary kept by Toundi, an innocent Cameroonian houseboy who is fascinated and awed by the white world, the world of his masters. When the head of his mission is killed in an accident, Toundi becomes the "boy" of the local Commandant. In an effort to improve himself, Toundi studies his new world closely---too closely. Gradually his eyes are opened to its realities, and in the end it destroys him.