Tiny Sunbirds Far Away
WINNER OF THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2011. 'Everything changed after Mama found Father lying on top of another woman.' Blessing and her brother Ezikiel adore their larger-than-life father, their glamorous mother and their comfortable life in Lagos. But all that changes when their father leaves...
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WINNER OF THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2011. 'Everything changed after Mama found Father lying on top of another woman.' Blessing and her brother Ezikiel adore their larger-than-life father, their glamorous mother and their comfortable life in Lagos. But all that changes when their father leaves them for another woman. Their mother is fired from her job at the Royal Imperial Hotel - only married women can work there - and soon they have to quit their air-conditioned apartment to go and live with their grandparents in a compound in the Niger Delta. Adapting to life with a poor countryside family is a shock beyond measure after their privileged upbringing in Lagos. Told in Blessing's own beguiling voice, Tiny Sunbirds Far Away shows how some families can survive almost anything. At times hilarious, always poignant, occasionally tragic, it is peopled with characters you will never forget.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9781849163750 (1849163758)
Publish date: January 1st 2012
Publisher: Quercus
Pages no: 470
Edition language: English
Category:
Novels,
Literature,
Cultural,
Africa,
Book Club,
Historical Fiction,
Adult,
Family,
Contemporary,
International,
African Literature
After finishing the book, I first read the biographical summary of Christi Watson, since I sensed a slight difference in approach from the other African authors.It dawned on me why I enjoyed the humor in the book so much. It reminded me of what Alexander Fuller said inCocktail Hour Under the Tree of...
Blessing is twelve when her comfortable life in Lagos, the capital of Nigeria, is destroyed by the separation of her parents. She moves with her mother and older brother Ezikiel to a rural compound just outside Warri, in the oil-rich Niger Delta. Aside from getting used to the lack of running wate...
NO SPOILERS!!!!!The author of this egalley, Christie Watson, which I have received from NetGalley, is born and raised in Nigeria. In reading this novel I am thrown into a world that feels completely foreign to me. The story follows the experiences of Blessing, a twelve-year-old. She moves, with her ...
Highly recommended!Won the Costa 2011 debut novelist award.
Highly recommended!Won the Costa 2011 debut novelist award.