Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
BOOKER PRIZE NOMINEE * A NEW YORKER AND NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * GMA BUZZ PICK * A dazzling story of modern Nigeria and two families caught in the riptides of wealth, power, romantic obsession, and political corruption from the celebrated author of Stay with Me, "in the lineage of great works by Chinua Achebe and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie" ( The New York Times ).
Eniola is tall for his age, a boy who looks like a man. Because his father has lost his job, Eniola spends his days running errands for the local tailor, collecting newspapers, begging when he must, dreaming of a big future.
Wuraola 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 Kunle, the volatile son of an ascendant politician.
When a local politician takes an interest in Eniola and sudden violence shatters a family party, Wuraola's and Eniola's lives become intertwined. In her breathtaking second 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.
"This is a Borzoi book published by Alfred A. Knopf"--Title page verso.
"A dazzling story of modern Nigeria and two people caught in the riptides of wealth, power, poverty, and corruption, by the celebrated author of Stay With Me"-- Provided by publisher.
Reviews provided by Syndetics
Library Journal Review
Narrated by Babájídé Oyèkúnlé and O․re․ Apampa, Adébáyò․'s second novel (following Stay with Me) explores Nigeria's social inequalities and growing economic precarity through the lives of two protagonists from opposite ends of the social and financial spectrum. Wúrào․lá, a resident doctor, comes from a wealthy family with political connections. She is pressured to conform to a patriarchal society's expectation of women, where a good marriage to a good family matters more than one's dreams and aspirations. Sixteen-year-old E․niò․la's family struggles financially when his father loses his teaching job; eventually, E․niò․la and his younger sister, Bùso․lá, turn to the streets for money. When E․niò․la decides to join a gang working for a political opponent of Wúrào․lá's father-in-law, Adébáyò․'s deft hand in storytelling is evident as E․niò․la and Wúrào․lá's paths cross with devastating consequences. Oyèkúnlé and Apampa convey the rhythm of the book, speaking with accurate Yoruban accents and providing vivid characterizations that bring additional depth to this already compelling story. VERDICT Adébáyò․'s skill is apparent as she navigates Wúrào․lá's and E․niò․la's contrasting worlds, connecting the two through the choices they make and the tragedy that engulfs them both.--Enica Davis
Publishers Weekly Review
Adébáyọ̀ follows up Stay with Me with this bright and distinctive tragedy set in modern Nigeria. Ẹniọlá, a teenager whose father has lost his job, can no longer pay the tuition at the private school that he'd hoped would enable him to rise from poverty. Wúràọlá is a doctor from a wealthy and politically connected family. She's overworked in an underfunded hospital, and courted by well-bred Kúnlé, whose mood shifts and possessiveness unnerve her. Ẹniọlá takes an apprenticeship with a tailor, but after he is beaten at school for the unpaid fees, his mother insists Ẹniọlá and his little sister accompany her to beg for money. Things spiral out of control when Ẹniọlá's parents decide to pay his sister's tuition with the proceeds but not his. He takes his revenge by joining a gang working for the vengeful politician Fẹ̀sọ̀jaiyé. Wúràọlá, meanwhile, becomes engaged to Kúnlé despite her misgivings, and though her parents are ecstatic, he slaps her at a party. Kúnlé's father is running against Fẹ̀sọ̀jaiyé, and the story's violent denouement is as devastating as it is inevitable. Pitch-perfect details provide a sense of the characters' lives--the red dust caked on Ẹniọlá's white socks from long walks to school, the soft headscarf worn by Wúràọlá's mother that "barely whispered"--and as the characters are pushed to the brink, Adébáyọ̀ delivers a searing indictment of the country's corruption and gender inequalities. This packs a powerful punch. Agent: Kathy Robbins, in association with Clare Alexander of Aitken Alexander Associates. (Feb.)
Booklist Review
Adébáyọ̀'s (Stay with Me, 2017) second novel is a remarkable exploration of power, ambition, and fate. Ẹniọlá, 16, is enrolled with his younger sister at the least expensive private school in Ife, Nigeria. His father had been a history teacher until three years ago, when he was fired. Since then, he has not worked and the family has moved to a small apartment that they only afford by begging. Ẹniọlá apprentices with a tailor and clings to hope that he will still be sent to a much better school, as his father had promised. Wúràọlá, from a wealthy, influential family, is in her doctoral residency, working for days at a time in understaffed hospital wards while fielding calls from her demanding boyfriend Kúnlé. When Kúnlé's father announces a run for political office, Wúràọlá and Ẹniọlá are set on a path to tragically collide. Adébáyọ̀ captures the nuances of interpersonal relationships and the wide-ranging impact of political corruption and violence. She writes her characters, and the world they inhabit, in vivid detail, rendering A Spell of Good Things unforgettable.
Kirkus Book Review
The lives of rich and poor intersect, often violently, in contemporary Nigeria. Adébáyọ̀'s second novel--following Stay With Me (2017)--centers on two people on opposite ends of the financial spectrum but with similar fixations on status. Ẹniọlá is a 16-year-old student at a private school who's at risk of expulsion due to his family's inability to pay tuition fees. Nearby, Wúràọlá, a young doctor from a wealthy family, has just been engaged to Kúnlé, a TV news anchor whose father is running for a local governorship. Ẹniọlá is trying to cover up the shame of his father's unemployment, which gets him spat on in the street and whipped at school; Wúràọlá wants to escape from Kúnlé's escalating physical abuse of her, stoked by his jealousy of her work colleague. In person, their lives overlap only glancingly--Ẹniọlá works as an apprentice at a dress shop where Wúràọlá's mother is having a dress prepared for her 50th birthday. But Adébáyọ̀'s point is that the classes are interwoven much more deeply than surfaces suggest, that both are equally likely to be undermined by greed, and that small acts of violence become larger ones wherever you go. (The title refers to Wúràọlá's mother's bitter observation "that life was war, a series of battles with the occasional spell of good things.") Once Adébáyọ̀ introduces a plotline involving rival politicians, the story's trajectory becomes more predictable and moralizing (not to mention more violent). But the novel thrives in its particulars, from Ẹniọlá's struggle to maintain his dignity while openly begging on the streets, to Wúràọlá's tense relationship with her siblings and keeping up appearances. In the process she reveals how stifling--and dangerous--unthinking loyalty to tradition and family can be. A somber study of good intentions undone by money and abuse. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.