Tortoise claims that the piece of land next to King Lion’s palace belongs to his family. Lion and Tortoise have asked the Creator for help, and now there is to be a cooking contest to decide the owner of the land – Tortoise or Lion?
High fantasy inspired by West African spirituality that follows a young musician drawn into a battle between gods.
Rumi and his family are Odu, stricken with poverty and disparaged by the other tribes. When ruthless agents of the Palmaine—the colonising nation that dominates the continent of Basmine—threaten to destroy the village market, Rumi takes it upon himself to liberate his family. Taking a place in the prestigious Golden Room, where earnings from his music offer a chance at freedom, he shoulders his pride and resentment in a bid to make it to the top.
On what should be Rumi’s greatest night at the Golden Room, his life is turned upside down. A terrifying individual known as the Priest of Vultures attacks Rumi and his family. Before her death, Rumi’s mother, Adunola, solicits the help of a dying god and saves Rumi, setting him on the path to become a Shadowwielder: warriors with the ability to use their shadow as a weapon. But Rumi’s need for vengeance may be more important to him than the future of his people…
They burned down the market on the day Vivek Oji died.
One afternoon, a mother opens her front door to find the length of her son’s body stretched out on the veranda, swaddled in akwete material, his head on her welcome mat. The Death of Vivek Oji transports us to the day of Vivek’s birth, the day his grandmother Ahunna died. It is the story of an overprotective mother and a distant father, and the heart-wrenching tale of one family’s struggle to understand their child, just as Vivek learns to recognize himself.
Teeming with unforgettable characters whose lives have been shaped by Vivek’s gentle and enigmatic spirit, it shares with us a Nigerian childhood that challenges expectations. This novel, and its celebration of the innocence and optimism of youth will touch all those who embrace it.
On a hot Sunday afternoon years ago, two sisters walk in on their father’s sexual liaison with the family’s hired help which leaves them both scarred in different ways. Years later, unable to bear the thought of marriage to a man she barely knows, the younger and more adventurous one, Munachi runs away from home on the eve of her traditional marriage, unwittingly resurrecting a long buried feud between her religious mother and eccentric aunty. This conflict leaves the door open for the family’s destruction.
From one of the greatest writers of the modern era, an intimate and essential collection of personal essays on home, identity, and colonialism
Chinua Achebe’s characteristically eloquent and nuanced voice is everywhere present in these seventeen beautifully written pieces. From a vivid portrait of growing up in colonial Nigeria to considerations on the African-American Diaspora, from a glimpse into his extraordinary family life and his thoughts on the potent symbolism of President Obama’s elections—this charmingly personal, intellectually disciplined, and steadfastly wise collection is an indispensable addition to the remarkable Achebe oeuvre.
In this striking novel about an unforgettable childhood, four Nigerian brothers encounter a madman whose mystic prophecy of violence threatens the core of their close-knit family
Told by nine-year-old Benjamin, the youngest of four brothers, The Fishermen is the Cain and Abel-esque story of a childhood in Nigeria, in the small town of Akure. When their father has to travel to a distant city for work, the brothers take advantage of his absence to skip school and go fishing. At the forbidden nearby river, they meet a madman who persuades the oldest of the boys that he is destined to be killed by one of his siblings. What happens next is an almost mythic event whose impact-both tragic and redemptive-will transcend the lives and imaginations of the book’s characters and readers.
Andrew Aziza is an unusually smart fifteen-year-old in Kontagora, Nigeria. He lives with his fiercely protective mother, Gloria, and fantasizes obsessively about white girls-especially blondes. When he’s not in church, at school, or hanging about town with his droogs wishing to become one of “Africa’s first superheroes,” he’s contemplating the larger questions with his teacher Zahrah and his equally brilliant friend Fatima, a Hausa-Fulani girl who has feelings for him. Together they discuss mathematical theorems, Black power, and what Andy has deemed the Curse of Africa.
Sure enough, the reluctantly nicknamed Andy Africa soon falls hopelessly and inappropriately in love with the first white girl he lays eyes on: Eileen. But at the church party held to celebrate her arrival, multiple crises loom. An unfamiliar man there claims, despite his mother’s denials, to be Andy’s father, and an anti-Christian mob has gathered, headed for the church. In the ensuing havoc and its aftermath, Andy is forced to reckon with his identity and desires and determine how to live on the so-called Cursed Continent.
The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa announces a dazzlingly unique literary voice. Crackling with energy, this tragicomic novel provides a stunning lens into contemporary African life, the complicity of the West, and the impossible challenges of growing up in a turbulent world.
The unforgettable, inspiring story of a teenage girl growing up in a rural Nigerian village who longs to get an education so that she can find her “louding voice” and speak up for herself, The Girl with the Louding Voice is a simultaneously heartbreaking and triumphant tale about the power of fighting for your dreams. Despite the seemingly insurmountable obstacles in her path, Adunni never loses sight of her goal of escaping the life of poverty she was born into so that she can build the future she chooses for herself – and help other girls like her do the same
The unforgettable, inspiring story of a teenage girl growing up in a rural Nigerian village who longs to get an education so that she can find her “louding voice” and speak up for herself, The Girl with the Louding Voice is a simultaneously heartbreaking and triumphant tale about the power of fighting for your dreams. Despite the seemingly insurmountable obstacles in her path, Adunni never loses sight of her goal of escaping the life of poverty she was born into so that she can build the future she chooses for herself – and help other girls like her do the same. Her spirited determination to find joy and hope in even the most difficult circumstances imaginable will “break your heart and then put it back together again” (Jenna Bush Hager on The Today Show) even as Adunni shows us how one courageous young girl can inspire us all to reach for our dreams…and maybe even change the world.
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.
On Afuwe’s birthday, his godfather, Tortoise, gives him a gift that grants him five wishes. Afuwe’s ultimate wish is to become the greatest animal in the jungle instead of the mouse that he is.
Follow Afuwe on his exciting adventure as he discovers what true greatness is about.
In the beautiful town of Treetop where all the birds live, Ogòngò the ostrich has an important message to deliver to his bird friends: Òrúnmìlà is throwing a feast in his big house in the sky and has invited all the birds. They’re excited about the feast, and when the time comes, they fly to Òrúnmìlà’s house to grace the occasion. At the feast there is music and plenty to eat and drink, and everyone is happy with their plate—except for Ogòngò, whose long throat is about to land him in hot soup!
Having inherited a house in Surelere from his father, and having waited ten years for the terms of the inheritance to be fulfilled, Adewale Maja-Pearce is eager to take possession of his house. He offers the tenants a one-year rent-free break to allow them search for other accommodation, after which they are to move out. They accept this, and it looks like smooth sailing. Little does Maja-Pearce know that, when the time comes to leave, his tenants will put him through one of the fiercest struggles of his life in their attempts to stay put. Psychological warfare, endless court cases, intimidation by the police and a possible attempt on his life make up Maja-Pearce’s experience in trying to claim the house his father left him.
Simple yet profound, The House My Father Built will delight you with its earnest, humorous delivery and keen insights into the psyche of a nation and its people.
Kuki is sure that the old family curse of the Abiku is a myth – she will not die young. Then, she meets a new friend, Enilo, while exploring the ruins of a forbidden house. When Kuki finds Enilo playing with children that are unmistakably Arike – wicked spirits – she realises her curse might be true after all, and her greatest fear might just become a reality . . . unless her new best friend can break the curse that binds them.
This is the second in the series, the story chronicles the journey of Bella Ayo-Kessington.
Bella has recently discovered that she is part of a powerful and wealthy dynasty after years of unanswered questions about her identity. She believes that fate has given her a second chance at having a family.
Soon, she realizes that life as an Ayo-Kessington is not the fairytale she had imagined it would be. Her world is thrown into chaos when she falls in love with the most unlikely person, earning the disapproval of the people that matter to her.
She is forced to choose between following her heart and proving her allegiance to her newly discovered family.
What should have been a simple love story becomes a full-fledged war between three families, leading to a ruthless display of blackmail, lies, betrayal and the unearthing of buried family secrets.
Will Bella let go of the lifelong luxury for a chance at happiness….where tomorrow is not promised?
This special, large-format, lavishly-illustrated edition of Things Fall Apart, ‘Africa’s best loved novel’, is a timely tribute to ‘the father of modern African Literature’. It is published to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of a book now considered a classic of African and World Literature. This edition uniquely blends the enduring simplicity of Achebe’s tale with the creative visual talents of some of Nigeria’s best and bright contemporary artists. The result is a book that will appeal to lovers of African Literature and Art the world over. A treasured testament to the art of story-telling, Things Fall Apart Illustrated is bound to become a collector’s item.
