First published 2016
Benjamin watches his three older brothers make a fateful decision. With their father working in the city and their mother overwhelmed, Ikenna, Boja, and Obembe skip school to fish at the forbidden river outside Akure. Benjamin follows them to the notorious waters where locals warn against going. One afternoon, a local madman approaches the boys with a dark prophecy. He tells them that one brother will soon sink into bloody waters and never emerge. The prediction poisons their bond immediately. Ikenna, the eldest, begins pulling away from his siblings. He grows defiant, secretive, and eventually cruel toward those he once protected. The madman's words transform their family in both devastating and redemptive ways. As the brothers navigate the prophecy's grip on their lives, their story reveals the contradictions of modern Nigeria. Benjamin must witness how magical thinking can both enrich life and strip away personal responsibility, making people blind to their choices.
Genres: literary-fiction, african-literature, mystery, contemporary, magical-realism, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, family-drama, magical-realism, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Akure, Nigeria
Period: modern
360 pages · Hardcover · Wydawnictwo Literackie
Content warnings: death, mental-illness