First published 2018
Chinonso tends his chickens on the outskirts of Umuahia when he encounters Ndali on a highway bridge, ready to jump. He throws two of his prized birds into the water below to show her what such a fall would mean. This act stops her, and they fall in love. But Ndali comes from wealth while Chinonso raises poultry. When her family rejects him for lacking education, he sells nearly everything he owns to attend college in Cyprus. He arrives to find no place waiting for him. A young Nigerian has deceived him completely. Now Chinonso finds himself penniless and homeless in a foreign country, growing more distant from both Ndali and the farm he called home. His guardian spirit narrates this journey across continents, watching as Chinonso struggles against a world that pushes him aside. The story weaves through cosmic spaces and earthly disappointments, following one man's determination to transform himself for love.
Genres: literary-fiction, african-literature, contemporary, magical-realism
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Umuahia, Cyprus
Period: contemporary
78 pages · Kindle Edition · Little, Brown and Company