Coates examination of the Obama era from a vantage perspective, having interviewed Obama in the past, shows the well-standing feet needed for such a book
world.
The Woman Next Door, by Yewande Omotoso
What Yewande Omotoso does in this book is to succeed in making you follow the story of two horrible women. Who said your characters have to be likeable to make an impression? She threw out the rule book on this one. Hortensia and Marion are two women, both over eighty, one black the other white. who share the same fence in post-apartheid South Africa. They also share the same deeprooted hatred for each other. But soon enough their lives collide in unexpected fashion and the two have to find ways to pilot life with each other. This is a brilliant novel of navigating hate and age with two most unlikeable characters that somehow grow on you.
A General Theory of Oblivion, by Jose Eduardo Agualusa
My most amazing discovery of 2017 is Anglola’s Jose Eduardo Agualusa, a brilliant writer of the most enchanting stories. This novel revolves around Ludo, a reclusive Portuguese woman, who on the eve of Angola’s independence walls herself in an apartment and remains holed up in Luanda but completely isolated from the country for the next 30 years until a little thief climbs over her fence and gradually brings the world into her life again. A novel of rich and lush prose with elements of the great narrative techniques that made Gabriel Garcia Marquez great. No surprise it won the International Dublin Literary Prize. His other book I read last year, ‘Creole’, is just as fabulous.
Sugar Money, by Jane Harris
This is my chance discovery of 2017. Jane Harris’s fabulous novel ‘Sugar Money’ is set in Martinique in 1765 and follows two slave brothers Emile and Lucien, the colourful narrator. The duo are charged by their French master, Father Cleophas, with a mission to return to their former home, Grenada and smuggle back 42 slaves claimed by English invaders. For young Lucien, this is an adventure, but for his wiser, older and mysterious brother, Emile, the dangers are all too clear. But the love of Celeste, draws him to the island he once called home and the dangers of this mission. Lucien is a witty and humourous narrator and not often does one find a slave narrative filled with so much humour and heartbreak.
The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead
American novelist Colson Whitehead won numerous awards for his slave escape narrative and it was one of the most talked about books of 2017. ‘The Underground Railroad’ is a novel of fabulous prose and heart-breaking anecdotes of the evil of slavery and one slave’s determination to escape. It brings to mind Toni Morrison’s ‘Beloved’ but if there is a downside to this novel, it is that at some points, the author veers off the story’s paths to vividly paint the evil of slavery. It was a shock when it missed out on a Booker Prize shortlisting but then again . . . Nathaniel Bivan
Love Does Not Win Elections, by Ayisha Osori
Amina Osori’s political nonfiction, ‘Love Does Not Win Elections’ proves that a good book does win a reader’s heart.
Before I met Ayisha Osori, I saw her book with a friend, and with little time to spare, went through it quickly. I was immediately taken by the cover design, and then the title. Who wouldn’t? There were the words, ‘Love Does Not Win Elections’ with a cover art of a box and pieces of papers bearing red heart shapes. Indeed, love doesn’t necessarily win elections, I instantly agreed.
I met her at the 2017 Ake Arts and Book Festival in 2017, after which I got an autographed copy of the book. Wow! In this case, a good book does win the heart of a reader.
The book chronicles her attempt to clinch the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket in 2014 to run for the Federal House of Representatives for AMAC/ Bwari constituency in Abuja. Witty, hilarious, and at the same time sad, it lays bare the corruption in Nigerian politics, and the religious and ethnic sentiments that influence who gets what in the system. So, imagine a fresh face like Osori vying for a political position within the Federal Capital Territory. Plus, she’s a woman. All these make the book an exciting read as she narrates how powerful money is in getting party hotshots to support her.
By the time I was done reading this book, I was drained. But like the author said, it was worth it, because she now has it all documented, and this might just be a bigger win for her. Victoria Bamas
The Fishermen, by Chigozie Obioma
‘The fishermen’ revolves around the lives of four brothers in a small community in western Nigeria whose lives and family are shaken to the core after a violent prophecy. The book got me thinking on fate, destiny and free will.
‘Why we‘re hosting African Creative Summit’
From Nurudeen Oyewole, Lagos
Organisers of the first ever African Creative Summit have explained that the need to maximize human and material potentials available in the industry for the production of good and qualitative productions is the reasons why they plan the convocation of the summit.
In a meeting with journalists in Lagos, the programme initiator, Brienze Lawrence said unknown