Jideonwo leans into this rule, but then, as if looking to validate his struggles, he constantly makes reference to the experiences of various celebrity guests who have graced his #WithChude talk show. In social interactions, he would be called a name-dropper. In print, these insertions come off as cross-promotion and shortchange the book’s efficacy as a memoir.
Book Review
Some authors mine their lived experiences for inspiration and indeed, Hollist’s own life has been shaped by migration. Born in Freetown, he spent part of his childhood in London, pursued postgraduate education in Nova Scotia, and is currently resident in Florida, where he is a professor of English at the University of Tampa. He might be a citizen of the world
More Than A Crown offers a blend of both. Born in Kigali in 1999, Nishimwe is a member of the ‘Generation After’ — young Rwandans fortunate to not have witnessed the 1994 Rwandan genocide, but nonetheless shaped by its trauma. Her early childhood was marked by separation from her father, whose job as a member of the Rwandan Defence Force entails, ironically, reuniting families separated by the nation’s civil war
In telling this important story, Riding the Storm becomes more than a record of events. It is a meditation on leadership under pressure, on Africa’s capacity for self-organisation, and on what it means to act decisively when history accelerates. Kan’s prose allows the reader to feel the anxiety of the early days, the urgency of closed-door negotiations, and the quiet triumph of systems
The money from such engagements was very important to her, her parents and her siblings especially with her as sole provider since their move to the UK. Her teacher father wasn’t licensed to teach in the UK, her mother couldn’t speak English and so couldn’t work. So, it was impossible for her to make a promise that would be tantamount to making a date with hunger and lack. Lara offered to work out a make-up arrangement with her professors.
As the story unfolds, Chiazor-Enenmor dispenses with the multi-perspective approach, and Nosakhere emerges as the main protagonist of this tale. Unfortunately, even after overcoming multiple hardships and setbacks to reach his destination, a happily-ever-after ending remains elusive as his problems continue to compound. Presented with limited options and with very little time to philosophize over them, he blunders his way through decisions that take him further away from ever integrating into respectable European society, and deeper into its underclass.
The political violence was pervasive as Marxists railed especially against Maoists. Roy recalled a particular incident where Maoists, who were far-left, radical insurgents and who had broken away from the Marxists whom they saw as bourgeois beheaded one of them and hung his head on a pike. These believers in armed revolution were also known as Naxalites. It was the poor versus the rich with the poor and their supporters believing that the rich deserved to be wiped out for them to inherit the earth.
From the outset, the novel establishes the dreadful gravity of this decision. On page 39, an elder observes, “When the gods want to bring down a man’s house, they set in motion a chain of events that lead to his downfall.” Yet as the narrative unfolds, Patrice emerges not merely as a victim of metaphysical forces, but of rigid standards of masculinity that leave him unable to retreat without feeling emasculated. To admit fault, in his mind, would be to embrace weakness.
Every age has a depression of its time which is found in the artistic integrity…
As Biodun Shobanjo turns 81, we commemorate the milestone with a return to Toni Kan’s…
he “Great Woman of the Lake” reverenced in Silence Besieges You! conjures up Uhamiri, the Oguta Lake deity central to Flora Nwapa’s seminal novel Efuru. Incidentally, Nwakuche is Nwapa’s son, and poems like Transformation and My Mother Forever suggest an ongoing conversation with her memory and legacy.
Umukoro blends an authentic voice with emotional honesty, inviting readers into a world that feels both relatable and transformative. The characters wrestle with identity, change, and belonging in ways that resonate deeply.