The Gods Are Not To Blame is a 1968 play and a 1971 novel by Ola Rotimi. An adaptation of the Greek classic Oedipus Rex, the story centres on Odewale, who is lured into a false sense of security, only to somehow get caught up in a somewhat consanguineous trail of events by the gods of the land.
This is the renowned play which was developed with Kikuyu actors at the Kamiriithu Cultural Centre at Limuru. It proved so powerful, especially in its use of song, that it was banned and was probably one of the factors leading to Ngugi’s detention without trial. The original Gikuyu edition went to three printings in the first three months of publication
Winner of the International Board on Books for Young People, Certificate of Honour, this story for young people teaches the lesson that honesty is the best policy. Ure comes from a poor but honest family, and works as a houseboy to pay his own school fees. Towards the end of his primary school days he is accused of stealing money. He is saved by the well-placed total trust of his parents and his teacher.
When Nigeria is shaken by a military coup, Kambili’s father, involved mysteriously in the political crisis, sends her to live with her aunt. In this house, she discovers life and love – and a terrible, bruising secret deep within her family. This extraordinary debut novel from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of “Half of a Yellow Sun” is about the blurred lines between the old gods and the new, childhood and adulthood, love and hatred – the grey spaces in which truths are revealed and real life is lived.
When the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic hits, Wumi finds herself jobless and decides to journal like the YouTubers suggest. What begins as a daily journal transitions into the rantings of a millennial exposing the frustrations and thoughts of a young immigrant Nigerian in cold London.
Fadeke and Chinedu are shocked when they come across each other in the elevator of a building they both work in. Chinedu has searched for her the past six years. Fadeke is hurt by an incident that happened in Chinedu’s apartment six years ago which he is unaware of. An incident which altered the course of her life, family and relationships. This romance story centres on campus life, tribalism, deceit and forgiveness.
In 2014 Ayisha answers a call from within to contest the primaries for a seat in the National Assembly on the platform of Nigeria’s ruling party – the Peoples Democratic Party. She is dissatisfied with the quality of representation – both from the men and women in office and after years advising on and working to get more women into leadership positions, she is curious about what it would take to contest and win.
Can and does she do all that is required of her as an aspirant or does she pick and choose and what impact did her choices have on the results? Was there ever a chance that she could have won? Go through the journey of midnight meetings, envelopes full of money, prayers for sale, tracking the First Lady and trying to get President Jonathan to realise the damage that was being done to the party with the automatic ticket policy and find out what it takes to win (or lose) the primaries of a major political party in Nigeria.
Told in a witty style that belies the heft of its subject matter, Ayisha takes her readers on a spell binding journey into the political underbelly of Nigeria.
In “A Private Experience”, a medical student hides from a violent riot with a poor Muslim woman whose dignity and faith force her to confront the realities and fears she’s been pushing away. In “Tomorrow is Too Far”, a woman unlocks the devastating secret that surrounds her brother’s death. The young mother at the centre of “Imitation” finds her comfortable life threatened when she learns that her husband is back in Lagos and has moved his mistress into their home. And the title story depicts the choking loneliness of a Nigerian girl who moves to an America that turns out to be nothing like the country she expected; though falling in love brings her desires nearly within reach, a death in her homeland forces her to re-examine them. Searing and profound, suffused with beauty, sorrow and longing, this collection is a resounding confirmation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s prodigious storytelling powers.
The African Renaissance is the concept that African people and nations shall overcome the current challenges confronting the continent and achieve cultural, scientific, and economic renewal.
At thirty-three, in 1983, Thomas Sankara came to power with a goal of eliminating corruption and eliminating the vestiges colonial domination. He immediately launched one of the most ambitious programmes for social and economic change ever attempted on the African continent. Sankara was assassinated by troops led by Blaise Compaoré in 1987.
It is this Thomas Sankara, held by some as one of Africa’s foremost statesmen, and derided by a small minority as a ruthless dictator, that Jude Idada sets to examine in this play. Everyone interested in history and the subject of an African Renaissance should read this play written by Jude Idada
The love canticles’ is an alchemical phenomenon; a project which attempts to achieve a purity of vision of life’s richness, by seeing it through a vantage of love and the point of view it affords.
Through this masterful work, amu nnadi demonstrates what the poet, W. S Merwin meant when he once said, “Poetry is seeing the world with fresh eyes.” The poet portrays familiar experiences, rendered in fresh language, as though he sees things anew, aided by an eureka moment of gaiety, and of loneliness, sadness and love.
When Titilope Ojo left Nigeria for the United States over a decade ago, her mother told her that a good mother does not run from her child’s home; she always stays and fights. Those words remained fresh in her mind as events unfold in her marriage. Her husband, Tomide, is a handsome and charismatic man who she is afraid of. She spends each day anticipating his moods and lives in fear of offending him. She takes great care to try and love him just the way he wants, but worries that nothing she does will ever be enough.
As her life continues to spiral out of control, Titilope finds herself alone at a crossroads where she must choose between duty and survival.
In Chasing Butterflies, Yejide Kilanko creates a detailed and moving portrait of a difficult and harrowing marriage. She uses crystal clear prose to demonstrate the points of view of both parties and the little child caught in the crossfire of parents who are struggling to be heard and appreciated in their partnership.
In Harmattan! and other poems, the poet pours out his thoughts as a traveller, a patriotic Nigerian, a devout Christian, and more, in this collection of laidback yet thought-provoking poems, covering his trips and observations through travel monologues, politics (both local and foreign), the ugly reality of terrorism, and the deep importance of faith to him.
He reveals his general reflections on life, the Nigerian weather/climate, aging, and Ebola/COVID; his support for the Super Eagles and for Liverpool FC; his love for his wife, his mother, and musings on Harry and Meghan’s marriage; and a reflection on rainbows, Psalm 23, and the coming of Judgement Day; all with unique observation and rhythmic mastery.
Seun Ajimobi is a twelve-year old boy lost in Libya. Thrown into a high-stakes situation, Seun must find a way out or risk never returning home or worse, losing his life. Told through the eyes of a boy abruptly cut off from the only life he has ever known, this agonizing tale of loss, isolation, family and friendship vividly captures the plight endured by those who leave home in the hope of finding greener pastures in a foreign land.
Long after Fina has left Sierra Leone for America, memories of a broken initiation still haunt her. She longs to return, to find her grandmother and right the path that has been set for young girls centuries past. Her journey from the streets of Freetown to Washington echoes with the tensions, ambiguities, and fragmentation of the diaspora.
Fina’s inner turmoil and feelings of ‘otherness’ persist as she travels further from home. Ultimately, the broken path of her childhood brings Fina back to Sierra Leone, to a life she had never imagined for herself.
So the Path Does Not Die is a tender and gently observed novel exploring attitudes towards female circumcision from an exciting voice in African literature.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury has written a modern-day classic with this unforgettable love story set against the struggle of the American bookstore. Molly Allen lives alone in Portland, but she left her heart back in Tennessee when she walked away from Ryan five years ago. They had a rare sort of love she hasn’t found since.
Ryan Kelly lives in Nashville after a broken engagement and several years on the road touring with a country music duo. Sometimes when he’s lonely, he visits The Bridge—the oldest bookstore in historic downtown Franklin—and remembers the hours he and Molly once spent there.
For over four decades, Charlie and Donna Barton have run The Bridge, providing customers with coffee, conversation, and shelves of classics—even through dismal sales and the rise of digital books. Then the hundred-year flood sweeps through Franklin and destroys everything. The bank is about to pull the store’s lease when tragedy strikes. Can two generations of readers rally together to save The Bridge? And is it possible that an unforgettable love might lead to the miracle of a second chance?
College volleyball star Avery Truitt has not seen her former flame, Prince Colin of Brighton Kingdom, since he suddenly pushed her away five years ago. But now, the sadness of losing her father and the joy of her sister Susanna’s pregnancy have brought Avery back to Brighton just in time for Cathedral City’s enchanting Christmas season.
Avery knows she can’t avoid seeing Colin—now the Kingdom’s most eligible bachelor—whether or not her heart is ready to relive the pain. But seeing him again might bring her the closure she needs after all this time.
When Colin finds himself at the center of a centuries-old Brighton tradition, he must decide whether to follow the path laid out before him or follow his heart to the only woman for whom he would ring the Pembroke Chapel Bell.
Can Colin convince Avery to meet him at the chapel on Christmas morning as tradition dictates, or will Avery run back to her St. Simons home and pursue a coaching career as planned?
