Intimate and wide-spanning ... Embraces many themes, sweetly considering so much contained within the sprawl of diaspora in its meditation on a Nigerian-American family in Chicago ... A captivating exploration.
Akinola tackles tough topics through rich, fully formed characters in this sensitive portrayal of how family dynamics can be stifling and how seeing things from only one perspective means missing out on the full picture. This debut novel is an exquisitely observed portrait of an impactful two-month slice of one immigrant family’s complicated experience in this country.
The novel bounces between their points of view as they navigate past trauma, parental expectations, and assimilation. It is at its best whenever the Longes interact with one another ... Bittersweet.
An incredible and moving debut novel centered on one family's dysfunction that probes questions of familial belonging and duty, immigration and identity, harm and healing.
The dialogue is realistic, and at times provides the novel with welcome doses of humor, and while the dark moments are truly dark, the book never descends into melodrama. It’s a fine debut that seems a likely candidate for book clubs, both celebrity and otherwise. First-time author Akinola handles difficult themes with grace.
