A lively, idiosyncratic tale of marriage and revolution.
In this debut novel, a man attempts to find love in a West African dictatorship.
In the fictional West African nation of Hasoumiya, there lives a tailor named Zaidou. He remains a bachelor at age 40, though not for lack of trying. The latest object of his affections is Talatou, the owner of a local restaurant with a checkered past. He manages to win her over, but almost as soon as they are engaged, Zaidou begins to have his doubts. Then a new crush enters his life: Zakiyyah, an educated woman 10 years younger who has just returned from the Netherlands. Such a woman would normally have nothing to do with a man like Zaidou, but she recognizes his talent and asks him to help her learn to sew. In exchange, she thinks she can help him sell his clothes in the Netherlands. The plan proves an unexpected success, granting Zaidou a level of wealth and prestige unlike any he’s known before. He even has a chance with Zakiyyah—that is, until Leader Gambo, the violent dictator who rules Hasoumiya, declares an unprecedented five-year ban on all marriages in the country. Zaidou’s fortunes become even darker when he is imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. Can he escape, set his country right, and finally get a wife, or is he destined to die a bachelor? Bello’s prose has a distant, minimalist quality, almost like a fable: “Zaidou went outside. He walked to the beer parlour that stood close to the brewery. The beer parlour was made of four logs of wood and was roofed by a zinc sheet. A signpost made from a rough plank indicated the name of the enterprise in Hausa—The People’s Drinking Place.” The events are slightly heightened, and while the story isn’t quite funny, there is a lightness to the tone that undercuts the seriousness of Zaidou’s plight. The novel takes some unexpected turns, and an ever expanding cast of characters provides additional tensions. While not entirely satisfying on an emotional level—readers will not feel quite close enough to Zaidou and Zakiyyah for that—the story works well as a yarn, pulling readers ever forward to the next development.
A lively, idiosyncratic tale of marriage and revolution.Pub Date: Jan. 11, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4808-5559-5
Page Count: 266
Publisher: Archway Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A wistfully nostalgic look at endings, beginnings, and loving the people who will always have your back.
Exes pretend they’re still together for the sake of their friends on their annual summer vacation.
Wyn Connor and Harriet Kilpatrick were the perfect couple—until Wyn dumped Harriet for reasons she still doesn’t fully understand. They’ve been part of the same boisterous friend group since college, and they know that their breakup will devastate the others and make things more than a little awkward. So they keep it a secret from their friends and families—in fact, Harriet barely even admits it to herself, focusing instead on her grueling hours as a surgical resident. She’s ready for a vacation at her happy place—the Maine cottage she and her friends visit every summer. But (surprise!) Wyn is there too, and he and Harriet have to share a (very romantic) room and a bed. Telling the truth about their breakup is out of the question, because the cottage is up for sale, and this is the group’s last hurrah. Determined to make sure everyone has the perfect last trip, Harriet and Wyn resolve to fake their relationship for the week. The problem with this plan, of course, is that Harriet still has major feelings for Wyn—feelings that only get stronger as they pretend to be blissfully in love. As always, Henry’s dialogue is sparkling and the banter between characters is snappy and hilarious. Wyn and Harriet’s relationship, shown both in the past and the present, feels achingly real. Their breakup, as well as their complicated relationships with their own families, adds a twinge of melancholy, as do the relatable growing pains of a group of friends whose lives are taking them in different directions.
A wistfully nostalgic look at endings, beginnings, and loving the people who will always have your back.Pub Date: April 25, 2023
ISBN: 9780593441275
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Feb. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Readers won’t want to leave behind the imagined world of pain and beauty that McConaghy has conjured.
The reality of climate change serves as the pervasive context for this terrific thriller set on a remote island between Australia and Antarctica.
Four family members and one stranger are trapped on an island with no means of communication—what could go wrong? The setup may sound like a mix of Agatha Christie and The Swiss Family Robinson, but Australian author McConaghy is not aiming for a cozy read. Shearwater Island—loosely based on Macquarie Island, a World Heritage Site—is a research station where scientists have been studying environmental change. For eight years, widowed Dominic Salt has been the island’s caretaker, raising his three children in a paradise of abundant wildlife. But Shearwater is receding under rising seas and will soon disappear. The researchers have recently departed by ship, and in seven weeks a second ship will pick up Dominic and his kids. Meanwhile, they are packing up the seed vault built by the United Nations in case the world eventually needs “to regrow from scratch the food supply that sustains us.” One day a woman, Rowan, washes ashore unconscious but alive after a storm destroys the small boat on which she was traveling. Why she’s come anywhere near Shearwater is a mystery to Dominic; why the family is alone there is a mystery to her. While Rowan slowly recovers, Dominic’s kids, especially 9-year-old Orly—who never knew his mother—become increasingly attached, and Rowan and Dominic fight their growing mutual attraction. But as dark secrets come to light—along with buried bodies—mutual suspicions also grow. The five characters’ internal narratives reveal private fears, guilts, and hopes, but their difficulty communicating, especially to those they love, puts everyone in peril. While McConaghy keeps readers guessing which suspicions are valid, which are paranoia, and who is culpable for doing what in the face of calamity, the most critical battle turns out to be personal despair versus perseverance. McConaghy writes about both nature and human frailty with eloquent generosity.
Readers won’t want to leave behind the imagined world of pain and beauty that McConaghy has conjured.Pub Date: March 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781250827951
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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