Harare Review of Books

20 pages.

First published on March 15, 2022.

Genre: Speculative Fiction.

In Osunde’s book, Lagos is a powerful god, the “cityspirit” Èkó. Tatafo, an angel (or demon), narrates for us the explanations we need: Èkó is greedy, They play favourites in loving the powerful and rich, and disregard the poor, the different, and outcasts. This book captures the fearsomeness of Lagos, along with a deeply sympathetic view of the lives of those known as Vagabonds. There is a glossary to explain what Vagabonds are, in the local understanding of the word.

Some of the book’s chapters have appeared as standalone stories in various publications. In the final chapter, many of the characters are brought together in an event that rather defies description, that pulls together all of the pain the book describes. 

Many characters are queer, and their expereinces of being queer in Lagos are where much of the book’s pathos comes from. Wura Blackson is the most memorable for me, a brilliant designer who wants to be alone. She dies in the book (not really a spoiler), but before she does, she experiences the loss of a child, who comes back on her due date as a fully-formed person, opiniated, outspoken, and defiant. Nkem is a “housegirl” who used to be a “houseboy.” The very spicy chapter, There is Love At Home, features Divine, who works in a sex club. Gold is a young girl who has transitioned, and who has the unconditional love and support of her mother, but who fears losing it. 

A second thread running through the book is a powerfully feminist one, particularly concerning the things young girls experience: abuse, abduction, and murder, as well as the above-mentioned queer stories. A cast of girls, the “fairygodgirls,” who went through terrible things and died, are now helping other girls stay alive—which is as heartbreaking as you may imagine.

A minor theme is the hypocrisy of a certain kind of Christianity, and an exploration of what God may be like with respect to queer people. In one story, a pastor’s right hand man hiring a group of queer friends to act out their deliverance in a service, to distract from the queer identity of the pastor’s own child.

Weird and wonderful: those are the words that came to me as I finished this book. It will not be to everyone’s taste, and was not completely to my taste either, as I found many parts rather overwritten, or bewildering, and not cohesive. That doesn’t matter, though, as Osunde has done a brilliant job of bringing attention to issues that are not just Lagos-specific, while using that city as a vehicle: the cost of urbanism to the poor, the dishonesty of many Africans’ brand of Christianity, the atrocities experienced by girls, ignored by those in power (who are sometimes the perpetrators), and the painful experiences of queer people. 

That’s a lot to include in a debut novel, and very difficult to pull off; Osunde succeeds in bringing attention to these things, and in a truly creative way, with gods, demons/angels, and ghosts. 

Rated: 6/10

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A version of this review appeared in The Continent, Issue 82, April 9, 2022.