Oyinkan Braithwaite

I will preface by saying I expected this book to be about sisterhood and the women who starred in the book, but I found it more overwhelmingly about men. While Ayoola’s will seemed to be the major conductor of the plot, it was the men whose minds and fates we were forced to worry about. It was the men who shaped these women into what they were- cold and calculating and detached. You don’t get that all at first; you suffer through that icky feeling of competition and comparisons amongst women. The sizing up of beauty and class and intelligence amongst women. You feel the jealousy and the possessiveness of women who want the same man. It makes you cringe. It makes you uncomfortable. It makes you remember the times when you have felt the same. The times when you have been compared to friends or family simply on the note of your womanhood. But even through the unBechdel level of concern for men, you get it. You get how easy it is for a character to find their worth above other women, to find their worth in the gaze of a man. Not Ayoola though. Ayoola learned young that a man’s needs were never any concern of hers and she’ll make them pay for trying to convince her otherwise. This book was a quick and intriguing read. The author is skilled in crafting specific emotional responses. The short chapters had me saying “just one more” all the way through the end of the story.… (mer)

In the middle of the night? Korede receives a phone call from her sister Ayoola. In self-defense, she claims, Ayoola has stabbed her boyfriend and desperately needs her help in disposing of his body and in cleaning up the scene of the crime. The thing is...this is the third time one of Ayoola's boyfriends has died under similar circumstances. How far should family loyalty extend?

This slender book is delightfully weird, and Braithwaite's spare but inventive writing was strangely satisfying. She almost had me convinced there could be a mind-blowing surprise ending, which didn't actually materialize but would also have been cool. A quick but memorable read. Recommended.… (mer)

This is the story of two sisters, one a nurse and the other a murderer who kills men that she has dated. Slowly, as the story is revealed we start to see that there is more to this behaviour than we might think.

The father of Ayoola and Koreda is abusive and willing to sell his younger daughter to a man he does business with. Koreda stands up for her for the first time and then never stops. No wonder Ayooda has problems with men. Braithwaite is pushing us as readers and her characters to see how far they would go to stay loyal to a sibling and family.

She is also telling us something about beauty. How Ayooda, who is very beautiful, is always believed, how men behave differently around her and how everything and one else is subservient to her. Koreda, who feels that she is not beautiful, is frowned upon, not believed, who is ordered around by her mother, the doctor she has fallen in love with and the police all for Ayooda's benefit.

I was interested in the interview Braithwaite gave to the Observer, replicated at the back of my paperback copy of the book. I commend her for writing about what she knows and her Nigerai. I agree with her, there is no writer that can represent every Black person's experience - Percival Everett's whole writing career seems to be devoted to disproving the idea of a single representation. Braithwaite's experience is of being middle class and splitting her time between Nigeria and the UK.

It's a quick read, written with a light-hearted tone for such a dark subject matter. The murders are described in a tone as normal and unexcited as other events in the story, making them seem quite common place. Ayoola is a fashion designer and so clothes and the impact they have on others are given detailed descriptions as is Lagos and the way police treat people. It is also an interesting point that the item the father uses to beat his children and wife is his traditional stick or cane with its markings. The effect it has on the family is about the present and future and this is very subtle.

Koreda is not without her troubles. There is her misplaced loyalty to her family but also her obession with cleaning - useful with a sister like Ayooda. And she would really like a friend. Koreda uses bleach to cover up murder, Braithwaite uses humour to cover up an abusive father and his impact on his family but neither cover up removes trauma and repeating behaviour.… (mer)