Welcome to Litsy!

We are like clothes, you understand. We get rumpled, and creased and torn, sometimes irreparably. Some of us are stitched up, patched up, others are discarded. Some clothes are fortunate. Others are not. They are born into misfortune and ink spills and what-nots, you understand?

I had jury duty today. I'm so glad I remembered to bring this book. It felt so far from the courthouse and the long waits.

Giving this a pick, even though it‘s more of a 3-star for me. Set in Nigeria, the overall premise is an older woman, Binta, having an affair with Reza, a 20-something drug dealer; however, the affair is really a catalyst to expose the raw grief and unfulfilled dreams of both Binta, Reza, and their families. Interesting book.

Apparently I was approved for a review copy 150 days ago and was never notified. 😟 Been looking forward to this as it‘s by a Nigerian writer - about a 55-year-old woman who has an affair with a 20-something weed dealer. Should be interesting from a different cultural perspective.

Part of my afternoon activities. I really wanted to like this novel, but 100 pages in I felt bogged down in everything except the love affair storyline, which in itself was interesting. (Rarity for me). Even that though felt very weird in a Freudian way, for reasons that are made clear to the reader. The combo of violence and sexual arousal in the very beginning was off putting and I nearly abandoned it in the first chapter.

An impressive novel about a mid-50s Muslim woman's steamy affair with a 25-year-old drug dealer in conservative northern Nigeria, in a culture marred by political violence and religious fundamentalism, with ominous hints of the Boko Haram encroaching. Deeply relatable characters; a story well told. Despite the adjectival diarrhea and other writing flaws, I really, really liked this novel.

These soyayya romance novellas of northern Nigeria, written exclusively by women for women, and exclusively in Hausa not English, have been getting some attention in the west of late. I believe I remember Rebecca talking about them on the Book Riot podcast earlier this year, and there's a wonderful article chock full of photos here: http://brittlepaper.com/2016/02/stunning-photographs-hausa-women-reading-writing...

I had never heard of this Nigerian actor, Ali Nuhu, but now that I've googled him, I'm as obsessed as this teenage girl character is! :-)

BOOKMAIL

I blurbed about this recently, and then immediately went ahead and ordered a copy online. I can't wait to read this one! There's no Litsy synopsis, but it's about a middle-aged conservative Muslim Nigerian woman having a steamy love affair with a much younger man.

This novel about an older Muslim woman's steamy love affair with a younger man in the ultraconservative north of Nigeria sounds pretty darned intriguing!

A love story set in deeply conservative northern Nigeria between two unlikely lovers. I absolutely loved this book!!!