Book picks similar to
Eyo by Abidemi Sanusi
africa
fiction
for-classes
immigrants
Tomorrow Died Yesterday
Chimeka Garricks - 2011
Douye aka Doughboy the career militant responsible for the crime. Amaibi the gentle university professor / eco-warrior accused. Kaniye the lawyer turned restaurateur who tries to get him off and Tubo an amoral oil company executive. Against a backdrop of corrupt practises, failed systems and injustice, these four friends tell the story of oil in a region and its effects on local communities and the Nigerian larger society.Chimeka Garricks in his extraordinary debut novel has written a frank and moving story about the realities of contemporary Nigeria. The evil long term effects of military rule resulting in the fragmentation and break down of moral values. His story paints a realistic picture of the very high price corruption exacts on a society and how no one is immune from its consequences.Chimeka has written a remarkable book; honest, insightful and tragic – Jude Dibia author of Blackbird.The book is absolute genius. Well researched, crisp lines, excellent and vivid dialogue, well developed characters. - Jekwu Ozoemene, author of The Anger of Unfulfillment.Tomorrow Died Yesterday is a chronicle of a region in turmoil, of a generation caught between the expectations of their parents and the depreciations of the Nigerian situation, each of these four men navigate their issues in different ways, and in their own voices. Mr Garricks is a new literary voice; unheralded, fresh, honest, unshorn of superficial flourish. Well worth the read. – Eghosa Imasuen, author of Fine Boys.Tomorrow Died Yesterday is a story of action and consequence, lies and love, greed and lust, the power of the truth and most poignantly, redemption. In a John Grisham-esque storytelling style, Chimeka Garricks carries the reader from the present to the past and back again in a seamless blend of storytelling, from the swamps of the Niger Delta to its courtrooms with some action, humour, suspense and just the right amount of romance thrown in. Tomorrow Died Yesterday is a novel by a Nigerian about Nigeria for the entire world. All in all, it is an impressive debut for a writer. - Seun Odukoya, reviewer www.naijastories.com
The Book of Memory
Petina Gappah - 2015
As part of her appeal, her lawyer insists that she write down what happened as she remembers it. As her story unfolds, Memory reveals that she has been tried and convicted for the murder of Lloyd Hendricks, her adopted father. But who was Lloyd Hendricks? Why does Memory feel no remorse for his death? And did everything happen exactly as she remembers?In The Book of Memory, Petina Gappah has created a uniquely slippery narrator: forthright, acerbically funny, and with a complicated relationship to the truth. Moving between the townships of the poor and the suburbs of the rich, and between the past and the present, Gappah weaves a compelling tale of love, obsession, the relentlessness of fate, and the treachery of memory.
Behold the Dreamers
Imbolo Mbue - 2016
In the fall of 2007, Jende can hardly believe his luck when he lands a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers. Clark demands punctuality, discretion, and loyalty—and Jende is eager to please. Clark’s wife, Cindy, even offers Neni temporary work at the Edwardses’ summer home in the Hamptons. With these opportunities, Jende and Neni can at last gain a foothold in America and imagine a brighter future. However, the world of great power and privilege conceals troubling secrets, and soon Jende and Neni notice cracks in their employers’ façades. When the financial world is rocked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Jongas are desperate to keep Jende’s job—even as their marriage threatens to fall apart. As all four lives are dramatically upended, Jende and Neni are forced to make an impossible choice.
The Ones with Purpose
Nozizwe Cynthia Jele - 2018
My older sister Fikile’s last breath before she dies is nothing of the sort. There is no rattling noise at the back of her throat. No relentless twitching. No clinging to life. Fikile dies with no more fuss than a switch of a light bulb.” With her sister, Fikile, dead from breast cancer, her father long gone, her mother emerging from years of slumber, and her younger brother, Mbuso, consumed with rage that refuses to settle, Anele Mabuza has no choice but to collect herself and grow up. Or does she? Because, if truth be told, she has not signed up to be her family's caretaker. Surely her dreams are valid? The Ones with Purpose is a remarkable story of family, disappointment, sacrifice, forgiveness, and love.
14/2: The Attack on Pulwama
Vikas Trivedi - 2021
Joseph’s investigation leads him to various clues, one of which points to a prisoner terrorist Al-Khaled, in India.Through the traps of betrayal, hatred and death, Clinton is determined to bring the perpetrators of the Pulwama attack into the light of justice. Owing to his findings, the Indian Air Force launches an airstrike across the border. The strike leads to the capture of Indian Wg. Cdr Anand behind the enemy lines. As his life hangs by a thread, it is his wit that will help him survive the ordeal.The two stories meld together, taking the patriots through the maze that has vowed to kill every last one of them - and the time's running out.
Pythagoras Falls
S.A. Ison - 2019
Miles O’Connor knows a deadly secret and works at a black site in New Mexico. A lethal weapon, the Pythagoras Project, is in development. O’Connor is part of the team, but when he discovers the full range and plans for the weapon, O’Connor destroys his work and disappears. Phoenix, Lydia, Julian and Yuma are strangers, flying to see loved ones for Thanksgiving. In a terrifying moment, their plane falls from the sky and plunges to the ground, in the middle of a Montana forest. Grateful to have survived, they must find their way out of the forest when no one comes to rescue them. To their utter disbelief, the world has changed in a split second and they must fight to survive. What does O’Connor know that the rest of the world doesn’t? What happens when Pythagoras Falls?
One In A Billion, Vol 3
Lola Silverman - 2017
Titles Included:Nine MonthsDiamond tycoon, Aiden has everything money can buy, except a kid. Yeah, he’s a guy, but guys get broody, too. Besides, his biological clock is ticking. The only hitch is he doesn’t want the wife. Who wants to go through a messy divorce, especially if you risk losing half of your hard-earned fortune to your ex-wife? He could pay a surrogate mother, but it will contradict the very value of marriage his engagement ring jewelry business stands for, and he worked too hard to throw it away, now. When his CFO embezzles company funds, Aiden finds the solution to his dilemma. To prevent her father from going to jail, Jenna must give Aiden a baby. Problem solved.Secret VacationFrida thinks she has successfully managed to hide from what she was running away. She believes living in isolation is exactly what cures a broken heart. Till the handsome, witty and older, Gareth shows up. He is a guest in her B&B and therefore out of bounds, besides Frida doesn’t have the space in her heart for another man. Although she knows nothing about Gareth, what she does know is that he isn’t interested in anything serious. Frida cannot afford to have her heart broken again, especially by someone who is hiding secrets of his own.Tragic TaleAlready on the run from an abusive ex-husband, Holly Price doesn’t realize that when she accepts the job writing for billionaire Julian Petrokov, she is getting in over her head. Julian tells her dark stories about his past and though they frighten Holly, she can’t help but to be captivated by his history and his charm. When Holly is threatened by the gang who is after Julian’s head, the two of them are forced to flee to Julian’s private island, where they grow even closer as he weaves his tragic tale. It’s there that Holly realizes just how deeply she feels for Julian, but what she doesn’t know yet is that loving him could mean making the ultimate sacrifice, one that could cost her her life.Coded In YouBeaches and BenchesKaarin Lind is perfectly happy all alone, thank you very much, despite whatever her aunt might say. With a successful career as a lawyer, she feels no desire to seek out companionship outside of her half-feral tomcat. That is, until she meets Carson Deveroux. After a whirlwind romance that leaves her questioning everything in her life, Kaarin meets Carson once again--this time, in the court room. Carson Deveroux thought he had life all figured out. Until Kaarin Lind stumbled onto his private beach and turned his world upside down. Now, he must choose between his future and the woman he has fallen madly in love with, and his comfortable past and family. comfortable past and family.
India Shining
Alcatraz Dey - 2017
He does not think so. For Nishi who had to suffer every single day after Shantanu suddenly left her, he is now the person she hates the most. Unknown to them Nishi’s father has left behind a huge secret with her. A trident tattoo on her hand and much more that he never revealed. After years of separation and hatred Nishi is forced to work with Shantanu. Shantanu also has a secret of his own.Powerful men are receiving strange messages from a man called Solomon. He believes there is something very valuable that a geologist has discovered and never revealed to the world. What does the trident mean? Why did Nishi’s father disappear with the secret? What is that Solomon wants?Most importantly what is India Shining?
Conversations With Skip
Donna Foley Mabry - 2011
He was soon running her life, arranging her romances, and teaching her to laugh again."Dogs don't talk," he told her, and he sounded exactly like the star of whatever movie she had watched the night before.
Slow Man
J.M. Coetzee - 2005
Humiliated, his body truncated, his life circumscribed, he turns away from his friends.He hires a nurse named Marijana, with whom he has a European childhood in common: hers in Croatia, his in France. Tactfully and efficiently she ministers to his needs. But his feelings for her, and for her handsome teenage son, are complicated by the sudden arrival on his doorstep of the celebrated Australian novelist Elizabeth Costello, who threatens to take over the direction of his life and the affairs of his heart.
Reggie and Me
James Hendry - 2020
But for a one small boy in the leafy northern suburbs of Johannesburg ... his beloved housekeeper is serving fish fingers for lunch.This is the tale of Hamish Charles Sutherland Fraser – chorister, horse rider, schoolboy actor and, in his dreams, 1st XV rugby star and young ladies’ delight. A boy who climbs trees in the spring and who loves a girl named Reggie.An odd child growing up in a conflicted, scary, beautiful society.A young South African who hasn’t learnt the rules.
The Zulus of New York
Zakes Mda - 2019
For EmPee, it is love at first sight, but the caged woman is not free to love anyone back: she is the property of Monsieur Duval, proprietor of Duval Ethnological Expositions. And so begins one of Zakes Mda’s most striking stories, one that depicts terrible historical injustices and indignities, while at the same time celebrating the vigour and ingenuity of the creative spirit, and the transformative power of love.In an already-great pantheon of Mda love stories and classic gems, this may be his most powerful work yet.Fourie Botha, publisher of local fiction for Penguin Random House, says: ‘A new novel by Zakes Mda is always a glorious event. We are honoured that Prof. Mda will publish this wonderful and important book with Umuzi.’A recipient of the Order of Ikhamanga, Zakes Mda was born in the Eastern Cape in 1948. He is the author of the famous novels Ways of Dying and The Heart of Redness, among many others, and his work has been translated into 20 languages. He spent his early childhood in Soweto, and finished his school education in Lesotho, where he joined his father in exile. Mda has studied and worked in South Africa, Lesotho, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and is a prolific writer, not only of novels, but also of plays, poems, and articles for academic journals and newspapers. His creative work includes paintings, and theatre and film productions. He is based in Athens, Ohio, in the United States, where he spends his time writing and teaching. His memoir, Sometimes There Is a Void, was published in 2011 and his most recent novel, Little Suns, won the Barry Ronge Fiction Prize.
Honor
Elif Shafak - 2011
While Jamila stays to become a midwife, Pembe follows her Turkish husband, Adem, to London, where they hope to make new lives for themselves and their children.In London, they face a choice: stay loyal to the old traditions or try their best to fit in. After Adem abandons his family, Iskender, the eldest son, must step in and become the one who will not let any shame come to the family name. And when Pembe begins a chaste affair with a man named Elias, Iskender will discover that you could love someone with all your heart and yet be ready to hurt them.Just published to great acclaim in England, Honor is a powerful, gripping exploration of guilt and innocence, loyalty and betrayal, and the trials of the immigrant, as well as the love and heartbreak that too often tear families apart.
Suspicion on Sugar Creek
Susannah B. Lewis - 2016
She hoped to work on her novel, play Rook with the old lady next door and spend some lazy time with her husband and daughters. But when a new neighbor winds up dead, Tessa and her Rook partner find themselves jumping to suspicious conclusions. Add a young hippie named Rusty to the mix, and these three seem like an unlikely trio to solve an alleged crime. When you’re not laughing at the humorous rhetoric in Suspicion on Sugar Creek, you’ll be on the edge of your seat wondering how it will all play out.