The first half of Umar Turaki’s second novel, Every Drop of Blood Is Red, a sensitive, non-judgmental x-ray of faiths and differences, stands guilty of being seen as artfully deceptive to those who have read his debut novel, Such A Beautiful Thing To Behold.
Reason: Everything about the first part of the book appears too normal for a Turaki novel.
In this first part, we become acquainted with what Jos, the Plateau State capital, has suffered over the years because of its many crises.
The suspicion between different religions and the attempts to restore the city to its old glory and all else in between are laid bare. No sugar coating. Just truth in its original, unardorned form.
Such a straight forward plot gives the impression that the author has decided to keep his imagination within ‘reasonable’ limits. So unlike Such A Beautiful Thing To Behold which is about Pilam, a town struck by a disease called Grey whose origin or cure no one knows but which keeps seeping into minds, whispering despair and driving people to terrible ends with corpses scattered abot, their faces unrecognisable.
But, in Every Drop of Blood Is Red, we take a journey with recognisable fellows like Murmula, Pamson, Rahila, Paul, Mary, Reverend Dogo and other flawed characters.
Essentially, it is about Murmula, a 25-year-old graduate in search of the man she believes is responsible for her father’s disappearance, and Pamson, a mechanic and repentant political thug, who all fingers of guilt point at.
The day she arrives Pamson’s house she is led in by Paul, a relative of Rahila, Pamson’s wife. Murmula asks for a place as an apprentice in in Pamson’s workshop. With her degree, Pamson sees no sense in her request. He also believes his kind of craft is for men even as he is disturbed about her visit to his home at a time he is battling to get his pregnant wife to forgive him for his affair with Mary. He resolves to refuse her, but subtle pressures from Paul and Rahila eventually land her a slot as a receptionist at Pamson Motor Care, where she begins working to seek vengeance. Soon she sees the chance to take her pound of flesh, but things take a funny turn. There lies the artful deception Turaki pulled on us.
Things take a scary turn from there onwards and the world Turaki plunges us into is no longer familiar. The things that occur are the sort that make us scream and wonder where we are being led. Though we still see Jos and its streets, churches and other landmarks, the goings on aren’t what we are accustomed to.
Turaki also deftly takes the bizarre events beyond Jos to include other parts of Nigeria and the rest of the world. Using global news networks, we are made to see that the bizarre events aren’t localised; the whole world has gone gaga. We are provoked to think and ask questions, but in the long run, the answers we seek keep eluding us and we keep flipping the pages in search of where Tutaki is taking us after his major detour in the second half.
The mysterious and life-changing turning point provides an opportunity for the author to delve into the intersection between faith and otherness. This turning point also allows a deep interrogation of the past and its importance in dealing with the present and in the long run, we are forced to accept the fact that “what is past is prologue” as shown in William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest (Act 2, Scene 1).
Every Drop of Blood Is Red, a spine-tingling affair between virtue exploration and a multilayered story arc, is a homage to Jos, the author’s city. We see it from every angle possible even as we love and hate it for what its people have done to it.
All in all,Every Drop of Blood Is Red is ingenious, mesmerising and worthy of accolades from all angles possible.
**Olukorede S Yishau is the author of ‘In The Name of Our Father’, ‘Vaults of Secret’s, ‘United Countries of America and Other Travel Tales’ and ‘After The End’.
