First published 2025
Eniiyi enters the world on the same day her cousin Monife is buried. The baby bears such a striking resemblance to the dead woman that the entire Falodun family believes Eniiyi is Monife reborn, destined to repeat her tragic fate. Three generations of women already live under one roof, all victims of the family curse that drives away any man who tries to make their house his home. When Eniiyi saves a handsome boy from drowning and falls in love with him, she faces an impossible choice. She can accept the pattern that has broken hearts for generations, or she can venture into the darker spiritual corners of Lagos seeking answers. The question that haunts her becomes whether she can rewrite her family's story of abandonment and heartbreak, or if she will spiral toward the same lonely death that claimed Monife. Her struggle forces her to confront the secrets and traumas that have shaped the Falodun women long before her birth.
Genres: african-literature, fantasy, magical-realism, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: curse, found-family, reincarnation
Setting: Lagos, Nigeria
364 pages · Hardcover · Doubleday
Content warnings: death