Patience Is a Subtle Thief: A Novel

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Hope and circumstance define a young womans life in this heartbreaking tale of lost innocence, set in politically volatile 1990s Nigeria, from an exciting and fresh voice in global literature.

For as long as she can remember, Patience Adewale, the eldest daughter of Chief Kolade Adewale, has been waiting for confirmation that she is loved, that there is a place where she truly belongs. Patience lives a sheltered life within the secure walls of the familys mansion in Ibadan, but finds no comfort from her distant father and stepmother Modupe. Her only ally is her younger sister, yet even Margarets love and support cannot overcome Patiences insecurity and uncertainty.

More than anything, Patience wants to know why her father and uncle banished her mother from their compound years agoand whether her mother is even alive. Determined to discover the truth, Patience embarks on a desperate search to find her mother. Answers begin to surface when she moves to Lagos for university and unexpectedly reconnects with her cousin Kash.

Kash and his friend Emeka are petty thieves with an opportunity to make a big score. To pull it off they need helpand enlist Patience and Emekas straight-arrow brother, Chike, to become partners in their scheme. The thieves plan is to quit after this job. But unforeseen events lead to unexpected consequencesand demand a price from Patience that may be too steep to pay.

Suspenseful and evoking the subtleties of Nigerian life in an fresh and unexpected way, Patience Is a Subtle Thief is a heart-wrenching story of one young womans precarious journey to adulthood, and the risks and sacrifices it takes to follow her heart.

Reviews

"Ishola-Ayodeji is deft, shrewd, sometimes witty, and always observant about the social, economic, and political obstacles to Nigerians wishing only to live honorably and decently.A poignant, revealing, and rueful tale of how much the political can affect the personal." Kirkus Reviews(starred review) "Expertly telling the story of an unloved girl on a hunt for answers and her own path,Patience Is a Subtle Thiefis both heartbreaking and heartfelt." Rachel Strolle, BuzzFeed "Abi Ishola-Ayodeji, award-winning journalist and television producer, can add accomplished author to her accolades with publication of this intense debut novel that explores the deleterious effects of secrets kept and the wrenching choices one woman makes in her search for identity and connection." Library Journal "A thrilling story of family ties, secrets, and sticking up for the people you love. Now, can someone just turn it into a TV show, please" theSkimm

Author Bio

Abi Ishola-Ayodeji is an award winning journalist who has written for several publications including ELLE.com, Essence, The Huffington Post, and Ebony. In 2017 she was named among Essence Magazine's Woke 100 Women for launching Beyond Classically Beautiful, a photo series that celebrates the diverse beauty of Black women. For Channel 75 in New York, she's produced several documentaries, including one on the opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and a four part series titled "Enter West Africa" for which she covered different issues plaguing Nigeria and Ghana.