Sankofa: A BBC Between the Covers Book Club Pick and Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick
(Paperback)
Available Formats
Paperback
Published: 12th April 2022
Paperback
Published: 8th June 2021
Hardback
Published: 3rd September 2021
Publishing Details
Sankofa: A BBC Between the Covers Book Club Pick and Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick
By (Author) Chibundu Onuzo
Little, Brown Book Group
Virago Press Ltd
8th June 2021
United Kingdom
Classifications
General
Fiction
Family life fiction
823.92
Short-listed for The Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize 2022 (UK)
Physical Properties
Paperback
304
Width 134mm, Height 214mm, Spine 26mm
323g
Description
A REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICK
A BBC 2 BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICKSHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION FUTURES PRIZEAN AMAZON BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR'A captivating story about a mixed-race British woman who goes in search of the West African father she never knew' REESE WITHERSPOONAnna is at a stage of her life when she's beginning to wonder who she really is. She has separated from her husband, her daughter is all grown up, and her mother - the only parent who raised her - is dead. Searching through her mother's belongings, she finds clues about the West African father she never knew. Through reading his student diary, chronicling his involvement in radical politics in 1970s London, she discovers that he eventually became the president (some would say the dictator) of a small nation in West Africa - and he is still alive. She decides to track him down and so begins a funny, painful, fascinating journey, and an exploration of race, identity and what we pass on to our children.'A real pleasure, it's funny, thought-provoking and holds a light up to everything from cultural differences to colonialism' STYLIST'I LOVED Sankofa SO MUCH' MARIAN KEYES'Slick pacing and unpredictable developments keep the reader alert right up to the novel's exhilarating ending' GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE DAY'Onuzo's sneakily breezy, highly entertaining novel leaves the reader rethinking familiar narratives of colonisation, inheritance and liberation' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'A really great book, very poignant' SARA COXReviews
Utterly compelling ... A disarmingly moving, surprisingly hilarious and fascinating journey * Stylist *
I LOVED Sankofa SO MUCH. It explores identity, duality, belonging, racism, post-colonialism ... and the writing style is beguilingly cool, wry, detached * Marian Keyes *
Onuzo displays astonishing imagination and versatility in this fantastic novel about a woman's search for her personal, familial and national identity, delivered with deadpan humour in captivating prose * Sefi Atta *
Captivating... A beautiful book about a woman brave enough to discover her true identity * Reese Witherspoon (2021) *
Slick pacing and unpredict able developments keep the reader alert right up to the novel's exhilarating ending * Guardian Book of the Day *
Onuzo's sneakily breezy, highly entertaining novel leaves the reader rethinking familiar narratives of colonization, inheritance and liberation * New York Times Book Review *
A real pleasure, it's funny, thought-provoking and holds a light up to everything from cultural differences to colonialism * Stylist Unmissable 2021 Fiction *
I loved venturing from London to the fictional African nation of Bamana in Sankofa, a novel I found hard to put down -- Maggie Shipstead * Daily Mail *
A really great book, very poignant but also told really straight * Sara Cox, Radio Times *
A stirring narrative about family, our capacity to change and the need to belong * Time *
Wonderful. Poignant and powerful and so timely and the beautiful ending had me in tears, reminding me to look within as well as without for my answers * Stella Duffy, 2021 *
Spellbinding . . . Onuzu's spare style elegantly cuts to the core of her themes. The balancing of Anna's soul-searching with her thrilling discoveries makes for a satisfying endeavour * Publishers Weekly *
Unscrupulous politicians, irresponsible journalism, and the yawning gap between rich and poor feel deeply personal as Anna's journey unfolds . . . Fresh and new * Library Journal *
A hugely compelling novel about identity and the stories we tell about ourselves * Anna James (2021) *
An engagingly written journey of self-discovery * Kirkus Reviews *
Uniquely layered and lovingly written * Ms Magazine *
Author Bio
Chibundu Onuzo was born in Lagos, Nigeria. Her life so far spans two military dictatorships, one internet revolution, two boarding schools, five grandmothers and a first book deal signed at nineteen. Chibundu's first novel, The Spider King's Daughter, was published by Faber in 2012 and was the winner of a Betty Trask Award, shorted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Commonwealth Book Prize and longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and Etisalat Literature Prize. Her second novel, Welcome to Lagos, was published by Faber in 2017 and shortlisted for the RSL Encore Award. In 2018 Chibundu was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, as part of its "40 Under 40" initiative. She contributes regularly to the Guardian, has done a talk for Tedx and her autobiographical show 1991, featuring narrative, music, song and dance, premiered in a sell-out show at Southbank Centre's London Literature Festival in 2018. Find her on Twitter and Instagram @chibunduonuzo.
