A Spell of Good Things

Longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize A spellbinding novel about family secrets and bonds, thwarted hope and the brutal realities of life in a society rife with inequality. Featured in Stylist’s best fiction of 2023, Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, the Women’s Prize shortlisted author of Stay With Me, unveils a dazzling story of modern Nigeria and two families caught in the riptides of wealth, power, romantic obsession and political corruption. Ẹniọlá is tall for his age, a boy who looks like a man. His father has lost his job, so Ẹniọlá spends his days running errands for the local tailor, collecting newspapers and begging, dreaming of a big future. Wúràọlá is a golden girl, the perfect child of a wealthy family. Now an exhausted young doctor in her first year of practice, she is beloved by Kúnlé, the volatile son of family friends. When a local politician takes an interest in Ẹniọlá and sudden violence shatters a family party, Wúràọlá and Ẹniọlá’s lives become intertwined.  In this breathtaking novel, Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ shines her light on Nigeria, on the gaping divide between the haves and the have-nots, and the shared humanity that lives in-between.   BOOK INFORMATION AUTHOR: Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ ISBN: 9789789985821 GENRE(S): literary fiction FORMAT: paperback NUMBER OF PAGES: 430 PUBLICATION DATE: 7 February 2023 PUBLISHER: Ouida Books IMPRINT: Ouida  

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Daughter In Exile

The acclaimed author of The Teller of Secrets returns with a gut-wrenching, yet heartwarming, story about a young Ghanaian woman’s struggle to make a life in the US, and the challenges she must overcome. Lola is twenty-one, and her life in Senegal couldn’t be better. An aspiring writer and university graduate, she has a great job, a nice apartment, a vibrant social life, and a future filled with possibility. But fate disrupts her world when she falls for Armand, an American Marine stationed at the U.S. Embassy. Her mother, a high court judge in Ghana, disapproves of her choice, but nothing will stop Lola from boarding a plane for Armand and America. That fateful flight is only the beginning of an extraordinary journey; she has traded her carefree existence in Senegal for the perilous position of an undocumented immigrant in 1990s America. Lola encounters adversity that would crush a less-determined woman. Her fate hangs on whether or not she’ll grow in courage to forge a different life from one she’d imagined, whether she’ll succeed in putting herself and family together again.  Daughter in Exile is a hope-filled story about mother love, resilience, and unyielding strength.   BOOK INFORMATION AUTHOR: Bisi Adjapon ISBN: 9789787963234 GENRE(S): Literary Fiction FORMAT: Paperback NUMBER OF PAGES: 405 PUBLICATION DATE: 30 March 2023 PUBLISHER: Ouida Books IMPRINT: Ouida

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Binti: Home

The sequel to the Hugo and Nebula-winning Binti, and a finalist for the 2018 Hugo and Nommo Awards It's been a year since Binti and Okwu enrolled at Oomza University. A year since Binti was declared a hero for uniting two warring planets. A year since she found friendship in the unlikeliest of places. And now she must return home to her people, with her friend, Okwu, to face her family and elders. But Okwu will be the first of this race to set foot on Earth in over a hundred years and the first to come in peace. After generations of conflicts, Can humans and Meduse ever learn to live in harmony? The Binti Series Book 1: Binti Book 2: Binti: Home Book 3: Binti: The Night Masquerade   BOOK INFORMATION AUTHOR: Nnedi Okorafor ISBN: 978-978-964-930-3 GENRE(S): Science Fiction FORMAT: paperback NUMBER OF PAGES: 167 PUBLICATION DATE:  10 December 2019 PUBLISHER: Ouida Books IMPRINT: Ouida

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Even When Your Voice Shakes

A young girl speaks out against her wealthy abuser in this riveting YA novel from one of Ghana’s most celebrated children’s book authors. When Amerley is offered a job working for one of her mother’s distant relatives, she knows he has to accept. Her wages will feed her family, help her sisters stay in school, and ensure that her mother won’t have to worry about them. Amerley’s move to Accra isn’t easy, but she soon settles into her new life away from her small town- until an unfortunate incident. Through the life of an ordinary girl, Even When Your Voice Shakes exposes the damage wrought by institutionalized misogyny and poverty and reveals how even those who are most disadvantaged are never without their own power.   BOOK INFORMATION AUTHOR: Ruby Yayra Goka ISBN: 978-978-791-168-6 GENRE(S): Young Adult Fiction FORMAT: paperback NUMBER OF PAGES: 191 PUBLICATION DATE: 14 November 2022 PUBLISHER: Ouida Books IMPRINT: Ouida

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All That It Ever Meant

Family, grief, ghosts, and a mystery: this clever and compelling young adult novel heralds a masterful new voice from Zimbabwe. Mati’s family is reeling from the death of Mati’s mother. Her Baba has drawn into himself, her sister Chichi is rebelling, and her young brother Tana is desperate for love and normalcy. When Chichi pulls her worst stunt yet, Baba uproots the family from their home in England for an extended camping holiday in their native Zimbabwe. Along for the trip is Meticais, a fabulously attired gender-neutral spirit–or ghost? or imaginary friend?–who only Mati can see and converse with. Guided by Meticais’s enigmatic advice and wisdom, Mati must come to terms with her grief and with the difficulty of living between two cultures, while the family must learn to forge their way in a world without their monumental mother. Full of captivating characters and stunning plot twists, All That It Ever Meant delivers a nuanced and unforgettable story of grief, love, and family.   BOOK INFORMATION AUTHOR: Blessing Musariri ISBN: 978-978-791-169-3 GENRE(S): Young Adult Fiction FORMAT: paperback NUMBER OF PAGES: 162 PUBLICATION DATE: 16 November 2022 PUBLISHER: Ouida Books IMPRINT: Ouida

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Pleasantview

Winner of the 2022 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. Winner of the 2022 CLMP Firecracker Award in Fiction. Shortlisted for the Society of Authors' McKitterick Prize 2022 Coconut trees. Carnival. Rum and coke. To many outsiders, these and other sunny images are all they know about life in the Caribbean. However, if you want to learn how the locals truly live and experience the dark and often harrowing truths that lurk behind the idyllic imagery of Caribbean culture, then come visit the town of Pleasantview. Come during election season, and see how one candidate sets out to slaughter endangered turtles- just for fun. Or come on the day the other candidate beats his outside woman,' so badly she ends up losing their baby. Then come on the night of the political rally, where this grieving woman exacts very public revenge. Stay a while, and see how this single event has a trajectory far beyond the lives of the immediate actors, with often tragic and heartbreaking consequences. Written in a remarkable combination of Standard English and Trinidad Creole. Pleasantview showcases the entrenched political, racial, patriarchal, and class dichotomies of life in Trinidad.   BOOK INFORMATION AUTHOR: Celeste Mohammed ISBN: 978-978-791-171-6 GENRE(S): Literary Fiction, Novel-in-Stories FORMAT: paperback NUMBER OF PAGES: 220 PUBLICATION DATE: 7 November 2022 PUBLISHER: Ouida Books IMPRINT: Ouida

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Tomorrow I Become A Woman

When Chigozie and Obianuju meet in August 1978, it is nothing short of fate. He is the perfect man: charismatic, handsome, Christian, and–most importantly–Igbo. He reminds her of her beloved Uncle Ikenna, her mother’s brother who disappeared fighting in The Civil War that devastated Nigeria less than a decade before. It is why, when Gozie asks her to marry him within months of meeting, she says yes, despite her lingering and uncertain feelings for Akin—a man her mother would never accept, as his tribe fought on the other side of the war. Akin makes her feel heard, understood, intelligent; Gozie makes her heart flutter. For Uju, the daughter her mother never wanted, marriage would mean the attainment of that long elusive state of womanhood, and something else she has desired all her life—her mother’s approval. All will be well; he is the perfect match, the country will soon be democratic again and the economy is growing, or so she thinks. Loosely based on the stories of real women known to the author, Tomorrow I Become a Woman follows a complex relationship between mother and daughter as they grapple to come to terms with tremendous loss. This powerful debut by Aiwanose Odafen is a sensitive exploration of a woman’s struggle to meet societal and cultural expectations within the confines of a difficult marriage, a tribute to female friendship and a love story that spans two decades and continents against a backdrop of political turmoil and a fast-changing world.   BOOK INFORMATION AUTHOR: Aiwanose Odafen ISBN: 978-978-998-584-5 GENRE(S): Literary Fiction FORMAT: paperback NUMBER OF PAGES: 405 PUBLICATION DATE: 13 October 2022 PUBLISHER: Ouida Books IMPRINT: Ouida

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Butter Honey Pig Bread

Winner of the 2022 Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ2S+ Emerging Writers Francesca Ekwuyasi's debut novel tells the interwoven stories of twin sisters, Taiye and Kehinde. Their mother, Kambirinachi is an Ọgbanje who wonders if her unnatural choice to stay alive to love her human family was the best decision. Kehinde experiences a devastating childhood trauma that fractures the family. As soon as she's of age, she moves away and cuts all contact with her twin sister and mother. Alone in Montreal, Kehinde struggles to heal, while building her life. Plagued by guilt about what happened to her sister, Taiye lives a life of reckless hedonism in London, hoping to numb the pain of being excluded from Kehinde’s life. After a decade of living apart, Taiye and Kehinde return home to Lagos to visit their mother. To move forward, the three women must face each other and address the wounds of the past. Butter Honey Pig Bread is a tale of choices and consequences; the malleable line between body and spirit; motherhood, voracious appetites, friendship and family.   BOOK INFORMATION AUTHOR: Francesca Ekwuyasi ISBN: 978-978-998-583-8 GENRE(S): Literary Fiction FORMAT: paperback NUMBER OF PAGES: 385 PUBLICATION DATE: 6 October 2022 PUBLISHER: Ouida Books IMPRINT: Ouida

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Binti

Winner of the 2015 Nebula Award for Best Novella. Winner of the 2016 Hugo Award for Best Novella. Winner of the 2016 British Fantasy Award for Best Novella. Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs. Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares. Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti's stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach. If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war that was not of her making, she will need both the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University, itself - but first she has to make it there, alive. The Binti Series Book 1: Binti Book 2: Binti: Home Book 3: Binti: The Night Masquerade   BOOK INFORMATION AUTHOR: Nnedi Okorafor ISBN: 978-978-964-928-0 GENRE(S): Science Fiction FORMAT: paperback NUMBER OF PAGES: 72 PUBLICATION DATE:  12 October 2018 PUBLISHER: Ouida Books IMPRINT: Ouida

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Binti: The Night Masquerade

The concluding part of the highly-acclaimed science fiction trilogy that began with Nnedi Okorafor's Hugo and Nebula Award-winning BINTI. Binti has returned to her home planet, believing that the violence of the Meduse has been left behind. Unfortunately, although her people are peaceful on the whole, the same cannot be said for the Khoush, who fan the flames of their ancient rivalry with the Meduse. Far from her village when the conflicts start, Binti hurries home, but anger and resentment have already claimed the lives of many close to her. Once again it is up to Binti, and her intriguing new friend, Mwinyi, to intervene-though the elders of her people do not entirely trust her motives-and try to prevent a war that could wipe out her people once and for all. The Binti Series Book 1: Binti Book 2: Binti: Home Book 3: Binti: The Night Masquerade   BOOK INFORMATION AUTHOR: Nnedi Okorafor ISBN: 978-978-964-929-7 GENRE(S): Science Fiction FORMAT: paperback NUMBER OF PAGES: 192 PUBLICATION DATE:  10 October 2020 PUBLISHER: Ouida Books IMPRINT: Ouida

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Ìgbà Èwe

Ìgbà Èwe by Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún is a Yoruba-translated collection of poems written originally in English as Childhood (2014) by Emily R. Grosholz. A contemplation on life and places through the process of adopting and raising children, this work features side-by-side placement of the original twenty-six poems in English and the Yoruba translations, with illustrations by Yemisi Aribisala, presenting both textual and visual interpretations for a bilingual audience, and all those interested in both language worlds. BOOK INFORMATION AUTHOR: Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún ISBN: 978-978-990-701-4 GENRE(S): Poetry FORMAT: paperback NUMBER OF PAGES: 82 PUBLICATION DATE: 28 June 2021 PUBLISHER: Ouida Books IMPRINT: Tevani

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The Villager: How Africans Consume Brands

When Feyi Olubodun, CEO of Insight Publicis Nigeria, one of West Africa's leading creative agencies, witnessed one too many cases of brands failing in the African marketplace, he began to ask himself questions:

• Why did brands, both global and local, so often fail to connect with the African consumer?
• What was it about the African market that brand owners were not seeing?

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The Beautiful Side Of The Moon

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Stay With Me

Winner of the 2018 9mobile Prize for Literature. Winner of the 2020 Prix Les Afriques. Shortlisted for the Baileys Prize for Women’s Fiction, the Wellcome Book Prize and the Kwani? Manuscript. Longlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize and the International Dublin Literary Award Prize. Yejide is hoping for a miracle, for a child. It is all her husband wants, all her mother-in-law wants, and she has tried everything - arduous pilgrimages, medical consultations, dances with prophets, appeals to God. But when her in-laws insist upon a new wife, it is too much for Yejide to bear. It will lead to jealousy, betrayal and despair. Unraveling against he social and political disturbance of 80s Nigeria, Stay With Me sings with the voices, colours, joys and fears of the time. This is a devastating story of the fragility of married love, the undoing of family, the wretchedness of grief, and the all-consuming bonds of motherhood. Stay With Me is a tale about our desperate attempts to save ourselves and those we love from heartbreak.   BOOK INFORMATION AUTHOR: Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ ISBN: 978-978-959-320-0 GENRE(S): Literary Fiction FORMAT: Paperback NUMBER OF PAGES: 284 PUBLICATION DATE:  10 April 2017 PUBLISHER: Ouida Books IMPRINT: Ouida

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Iyaji the Housegirl

Six-year-old Iyaji loves going to school in Igede, Benus State. One day, her father tells her she has to go and work as a housegirl in a big house in Lagos. Little Iyaji works as hard as she can but she misses her home, her family and her books. Just when Iyaji begins to lose all hope of going back home to school, a policewoman follows her home. Other books in the Northern Lights Series:

1. Do As You Are Told, Baji
2. Jamila’s Clever Plan
3. Anyibo and the Mother Hen
4. A Durbar Festival For Hassan and Hussaina

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Do As You Are Told, Baji!

Baji goes to Kwoi in Kaduna State to spend the weekend with Baba, his grandfather. Baba takes Baji to his farm, but soon discovers that Baji does not often do as he is told. As an eventful day on the farm comes to an end, fun-loving Baji has an interesting encounter with a stubborn donkey. Other books in the Northern Lights Series:

1. Jamila’s Clever Plan
2. Iyaji, The Housegirl
3. Anyibo and the Mother Hen
4. A Durbar Festival For Hassan and Hussaina

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Travellers

Shortlisted for the 2020 James Tait Black Memorial Prize

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Water Birds on the Lakeshore

These stories from the oldest continent and home to the world’s youngest population range from the fantastical to ruminations of youth during conflict, the unknowability of death as seen through adult eyes, to the perennial questions around family, friendship and sexual awakening. Despite the diverse themes, the stories in this historic first anthology of African young adult fiction speak with voices that anyone who is or has been a teenager will be familiar with: voices that are at times assertive, sometimes uncertain, but always aware of a world around them.   BOOK INFORMATION AUTHOR: Zukiswa Wanner (Editor) ISBN: 978-978-572-599-5 GENRE(S): Young Adult Fiction (Anthology) FORMAT: Paperback NUMBER OF PAGES: 255 PUBLICATION DATE:  15 December 2021 PUBLISHER: Ouida Books IMPRINT: Ouida

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Story Story, Story Come!

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In the Nude

In their engrossing collection, poet Logan February documents and interrogates grief, and God, and examines what it is to be on the outside, even in the family setting-the reality of having a queer identity in the African world. In this volume, eroticism and manic depression are navigated alone. Some of the poems use a mannequin as a projective tool to dissect self hood, histories, and family connections in the aftermath of a fundamental bereavement. February additionally explores religious concepts to further mythologize the self, collecting Buddhist philosophies and Yoruba proverbs and myths, and putting them adjacent to the toxic tenets of Pentecostal Christianity, which is widespread in Nigeria. In the vein of confessional poetry, the narrative takes its pride in exposing the elements which are deemed taboo and advised to be hidden away. The poems are equally fearful and raunchy, tender and defiant, morose and youthful.   BOOK INFORMATION AUTHOR: Logan February ISBN: 978-978-974-193-9 GENRE(S): Poetry FORMAT: Paperback NUMBER OF PAGES: 57 PUBLICATION DATE: 1 March 2019 PUBLISHER: Ouida Books IMPRINT: Ouida Poetry

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