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Lädt ... God's Children Are Little Broken Things (2022)von Arinze Ifeakandu
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'Raw tender grace . . . A serious literary talent has emerged' Colm T?ib?n The Winner of the 2023 Dylan Thomas Prize, God's Children Are Little Broken Things announces the arrival of a daring new voice in fiction with these nine exhilarating stories of queer love in contemporary Nig Keine Bibliotheksbeschreibungen gefunden. |
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Google Books — Lädt ... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.92Literature English English fiction Modern Period 2000-Klassifikation der Library of Congress [LCC] (USA)BewertungDurchschnitt:
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Review of the A Public Space (US) paperback edition (June 7, 2022), released in advance of the Weidenfeld & Nicolson (UK) hardcover (July 28, 2022).
[4.1 average rating, but rounded up to 5 for the overall impact]
Although author Arinze Ifeakandu now lives in the United States, the settings of all of these short stories were in his birth country of Nigeria, where homosexuality is illegal, and where it can be punishable by prison sentence or even by death from stoning in some states/provinces which have adopted Shari’a Law. Source: LGBT rights in Nigeria. There is an added edge behind all of these stories with the possible repercussions in the background.
I found all of these stories to be engaging. Some were about the youthful coming of age, some were of longer term relationships, some were of breakups and reconciliations. There was humour and good spirits in them next to the tragedy and drama. My favourite was the 3rd story, Where the Heart Sleeps, in which an emigrant daughter returns home to Nigeria and bonds with her deceased father's partner to the consternation of the rest of the family.
The following synopses provide story setups only so hopefully won’t be considered spoilers.
1. The Dreamer’s Litany **** A customer named Chief takes an interest in a shopkeeper named Auwal.
2. Happy is a Doing Word **** Two young boys, Binyelum and Somadina, are bullied about their relationship.
3. Where the Heart Sleeps ***** Nouye comes from America to attend her father's funeral in Nigeria. His partner Tochukwa is still living in their house and the rest of the family wants to evict him.
4. God’s Children are Little Broken Things **** Lotanna wants a relationship with Kamsi.
5. Alobam *** Ralu has been stood up by Obum while he awaited him at a disco. But then Obum asks Ralu to come pick him up from where he was two-timing him with Ibrahim.
6. Good Intentions *** Doc, a 40-year-old teacher is facing disciplinary hearings at his university due to his relationship with a 20-year-old student activist.
7. What the Singers Say About Love ***** Somto is in a relationship with Kayode, but the latter begins to ghost him as his music career begins to take off.
8. Michael’s Possessions **** Obinna comes to collect mementos of his dead son Michael from the home of his estranged ex-wife Adanna.
9. Mother’s Love *****. A mother visits her son Chikelu just after his partner Chenna has moved out. She doesn't know about their relationship.
There was a smattering of various Nigerian language phrases used throughout the book. These were Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo along with the occasional Nigerian pidgin. There were no footnotes to explain these although I was able to locate a glossary of Nigerian pidgin (see Trivia Link below). I think most of the other language meanings could be guessed in context, but I would have loved it if they had footnoted the book with translations.
I read God’s Children are Little Broken Things due to its winning the inaugural Republic of Consciousness Prize for USA/Canada on March 28, 2023. For more information see the March 28, 2023 entry at their Blog and see general information at the RoC USA/Canada website.
Trivia and Link
A brief glossary of Nigerian pidgin is available here. ( )