God's Children Are Little Broken Things, 2022, Arinze Ifeakandu ****

This novel is unlike anything I've read before. It's built on the lives of gay men in Nigeria, a subject I'd only ever encountered in fragments and whispers, never told this openly, this fully, until Arinze Ifeakandu's debut.

Structured as a collection of interlinked stories, the book moves through parents who disown their own children over their sexuality, men who marry women out of fear rather than love, and boys who are bullied, harassed, or falsely accused simply for who they are. But it's also something warmer than that list suggests: a coming-of-age portrait of gay boys and men in Nigeria, how they party, how they flirt, how they build ordinary lives inside an unforgiving world.

Ifeakandu is clearly gifted. His prose is exquisite, the kind you want to slow down for. I'll admit, though, that I sometimes lost the thread with so many characters shifting in and out of focus across stories. It asks for patience, but it rewards it too.

A few stories stayed with me long after I finished the book.

"Where the Heart Sleeps" follows Nonye, who returns home for her father's burial only to find his partner, Tochukwu, still living in the

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi *****

This book tells the story of two sisters who were both born on the coast of West Africa during the Transatlantic slave trade. Effia remains in Africa, while Esi is sold into slavery. Homegoing follows their lineage down to the 5th generation. Each chapter of the novel is focused on one of their descendants, with some sort of comparison to help you understand what life is like for the people who were sold into slavery and the ones who stayed behind.

In my opinion,

Palace of Desire (The Cairo Trilogy #2), 1957 by Naguib Mahfouz

At long last I am finally done with this novel. Last two years I read the first part of the trilogy which I thoroughly enjoyed, please click here. In Palace of desire, the family saga continues. Al-Sayyid Ahmad is done mourning the death of one of his sons who died in the first sequel, he went back to his life of alcohol and women, though he realised he has aged. He decides to keep a young mistress. 

Kamal his youngest son falls in love with a

How to Read the Air, 2010, Dinaw Mengestu ****

"Like most of the men he was thirsty all the time, and he was convinced that there was something irreparably cruel about a place that put water that could not be drunk in front of you"

"The ships that you see at the far end of the port are all government controlled,... They carry one of two things: food or weapons. We don't make either of them in Sudan"

"I know what you want, he would shout. You want me to go back and have  me dead." In the way he phrased it, death always sounded less like a condition and more like an item from a grocery list. You want me to go back and get the fish. Or You want me to go back and get more bread."

Jonas trying to make sense of his existence, the broken relationship with his parents and the failed marriage to his wife Angela, has to invent a story for

The Fishermen, 2015, Chigozie Obioma ****

I met Chigozie Obioma in person when he was invited to Barcelona for his book promotion in Spanish and Catalan. I haven't read his book then, we took a picture together and I found his speech, questions and answers interesting. Click here for more info regarding his visit to my city.

Chigozie is a stellar storyteller and writer, another talented novelist full of promises from Nigeria,"The Fishermen" is only his debut novel, in spite of its accolades, I

Palace Walk (The Cairo Trilogy #1), 1956, Naguib Mahfouz *****

Palace  Walk is a story set in the beginning of the 20th century. The story of Ahmad Al Jaawad and his house hold in a continuously evolving Egypt. He has a son, Yasin, with his first wife. Their marriage is quickly followed by a divorce because she is a woman of her own ways and wouldn't tolerate her husband's control.

Ahmad marries for the second time to Amina, a submissive woman in every sense of the word. Together they have Khadidja, Aisha, Fahmy and Kamal. Ahmad rules his household with an iron hand and instills fear in his children and wife. For instance, he asks his wife to leave when he finds out that she left the house without his permission in his absence.

However, what his family does not know is that Ahmad is a totally different character when he is with his friends, he loves music, women and wine. Yasin, his oldest son, soon discovers his father's other facet and realises where his own

Ghana Must Go, 2013, Taiye Selasi ***

I am glad I did not purchase this book when it was first published, with all the marketing hype and I am not even sure still why the title "Ghana Must Go". To make matters worse, firstly, I have not read any novel so far with so many short sentences, sometimes even without an action word, the verb, making my reading experience somewhat disengaged and I struggled through the first (not few) pages. Secondly, there is a lot of going to and fro in a confusing way. For instance, it goes without saying that the narrative of pieces of memory combined with actuality could be poetic, artistic and different, however, requires effort to comprehend.Thirdly, I dislike all of the characters, none of them has stamina.

Kweku immigrates to the U.S.A where he studies Medicine and becomes one of

The Official Wife, 1993, Mary Karooro Okurut ***

The Official Wife is the story of Liz and her husband, upper middle class Ugandans. She narrates on how her husband falls out of love with her and starts to love another woman and is determined to be a polygamist. Not only that, he also comes to be psychologically abusive. First of all he develops a tendency to promiscuity, has  an affair with the housemaid, disgraces his wife in front of her house employees. Liz, on the other hand, instead of walking away from a man that apparently do not value her worth, she decides to win back his love. One of the most demeaning chapter to read was when she learns the name of the hotel and the room number where her husband is lodged with his lover, she decides

The Godfather, 1969, Mario Puzo *****

I know what you might be thinking, this is not African literature. Yes, I know. A couple of months ago my husband and I decided to watch The Godfather saga. I watched it when I was a very young teenager, I couldn't make out most of the story line. My tender age was a deterrent. So I decided to watch it now as an adult. I fell in love with the movie. The actors, settings and whatnot are impeccable.The movie left me wanting for more, so I decided to read the book.
I went to my librarian and narrated my  feelings, and asked if he had the book. He confessed that he had the same experience and had seen the movie many times now. However, I should keep in mind that the novel is not half as good as the movie. He left me dumbfounded because this is the first time I am told that a movie is better than the novel it is based on. He said I should read it anyway, perhaps, that is how I might get to appreciate  and even value more the classic work of art the movie is. He was not mistaken. 

This novel is not as good as the film, nevertheless, it is exciting, thrilling and fast moving. I devoured this 400+ pages in 4 days while on vacation. It helped me understand more the plot of the movie.
So a quick summary for those of you who might not know what the Godfather is all about. It is a story of a "sophisticated" mafia,

Lyrics Alley, 2010, Leila Aboulela ****

Mahmoud Bey, fallen out of love with his first wife, Waheeba, brought in to his traditional Sudanese household a beautiful Egyptian woman as his second wife. Filing for divorce would have been best before marrying for the second time, however, he decided not to. Perhaps, it was because of the two sons he has with her (Waheeba)? Nassir and Nur. Though, Nassir was hopeless and Nur who was assumed would take up the family business ended up helpless.
Mahomoud Bey's brother, Idris with whom he lives and runs the family business, is widowed with three daughters. His first daughter was barely mentioned, the second daughter, Fatima, married her (hopeless) cousin Nassir, while Soraya was informally betrothed to his cousin Nur, everyone's favourite until calamity befell him.

As you can see "Lyrics Alley" narrates the story of a wealthy Sudanese family striving against all odds to live up to their reputation. Keeping up with old tradition and culture that shows little or no regard for women. Even though, their younger generation were singing a different tune.

I discovered Leila Aboulela through her short stories, she has a somewhat intimate way of narrating. I went ahead and read Minaret and really enjoyed it. I cannot say the same for Lyrics Alley. It is not a family saga, not even close to it, it is simply a very well written love story that unfolded in a family setting. Do not be deceived with the family tree at the beginning of the novel (which helped). Nonetheless, there is no dramatic metamorphosis, it is more or less a 300 pages novel. I recommend.