MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2023: the Observer, Guardian, Financial Times, Stylist, the Express and Oprah Daily
Ayobami Adebayo, the Women's Prize-shortlisted author of Stay With Me, unveils a dazzling story of modern Nigeria and two families caught in the riptides of wealth, power, romantic obsession and political corruption.
Eniola is tall for his age, a boy who looks like a man. His father has lost his job, so Eniola spends his days running errands for the local tailor, collecting newspapers and begging, dreaming of a big future.
Wuraola is a golden girl, the perfect child of a wealthy family. Now an exhausted young doctor in her first year of practice, she is beloved by Kunle, the volatile son of family friends.
When a local politician takes an interest in Eniola and sudden violence shatters a family party, Wuraola and Eniola's lives become intertwined. In this breathtaking novel, Ayobami Adebayo shines her light on Nigeria, on the gaping divide between the haves and the have-nots, and the shared humanity that lives in between.
Ayobami Adebayo was born in Lagos, Nigeria. Her debut novel, Stay With Me, won the 9mobile Prize for Literature, was shortlisted for the Baileys Prize for Women's Fiction, the Wellcome Book Prize and the Kwani? Manuscript Prize. It has been translated into twenty languages and the French translation was awarded the Prix Les Afriques. Longlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize and the International Dublin Literary Award, Stay With Me was a New York Times, Guardian, Chicago Tribune and NPR Best Book of the Year. Ayobami Adebayo splits her time between Norwich and Lagos.
ayobamiadebayo.com | @ayobamiadebayo
Title: A Spell of Good Things: Ayobami Adebayo
Author: Adebayo, Ayobami
ISBN: 9781838856045
Binding:
Publisher: Canongate Books
Publication Date: 2023-02-09
Number of Pages: 352
Weight: 0.4641 kg
A moving story, skilfully told, about Eniola, a boy whose future has been snatched away from him, and Wuraola, a talented, overworked junior doctor, whose intertwined narratives combine to produce an insightful portrait of an unequal and deeply divided society moving towards a terrible crisis. A Spell of Good Things is both gripping and memorable -- PAT BARKER
An outstanding read -- ANITA RANI * * BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour * *
Heart-rending . . . a breeze to read, despite the weightiness of its subject matter . . . Adebayo handles her characters with empathy and nuance, showing their vulnerabilities, yearnings, shame and delusions * * Financial Times * *
[Adebayo] has delivered a poised and luminous love story set against the backdrop of a violent contemporary Nigeria * * Observer * *
Adebayo humanizes those sucked into the vortex of [. . . ] power with striking compassion - the characters' misjudgments and delusions are deeply and empathetically imagined, wholly alive * * New York Times * *
[A Spell of Good Things] could not be more timely, chronicling struggles of class and gender in Nigeria set against the backdrop of fiercely contested and corrosive elections -- AFUA HIRSCH
Adebayo's mesmerizing prose is suffused with heart and sharp emotions. Every page of this book was a pleasure to read. Even the hard parts. A Spell of Good Things is a triumph of storytelling -- CHIKA UNIGWE
Ayobami Adebayo is a natural storyteller, a spellbinder. Her expansive second novel is Dickensian in scope and execution. It sparkles -- HELON HABILA
A portrait of domestic strife and political tensions in Nigeria -- Michael Donkor * * Guardian * *
Adebayo has a gift for writing convincing characters and she skilfully weaves together the domestic and political . . . [A Spell of Good Things's] ending packs a punch that's hard to forget * * Daily Express * *
