In the last few years we have begun to see a growth in the number of diverse books of all kinds being published, but this is still a very
small part of the scene in this country. Books written by people of colour are beginning to be published, but we still have a long way to go. It seems appropriate that as I am writing this post, the Diverse Book Awards longlists are being announced. I have to say that I can imagine this book being part of the longlist next year and I hope that it achieves this.
The author, Efua Traore has been at the forefront of the movement to show us the way that people live in Africa (in this case it is Nigeria), but through the authentic voice of children who live in the villages and cities. I have been a fan ever since I read her first book, “Children of the Quicksands” and she continues to delight with her characters and her descriptive settings.
This is the story of Jomi, who has been living with his aunt and uncle, after his mother left for Lagos, in order to get a job and then come back for Jomi. However, after three years she has not returned and he thinks that she has forgotten him. When circumstances show him some letters from his mother, after developers start digging up the land around his village, he knows this is not the case and decides that he has to try and find her in Lagos. The problem is that Lagos is the most populated city in Africa (Wikipedia) and how do you find someone in a city of over 26 million when you don’t have an address to go on? Luckily Jomi is helped by a group of young street children, led by the feisty Tanks and looked after by ‘Aunty Bisi’, a nurse who is providing shelter and food for the young ones. But the issue is still ‘how to find his mother?’ Then Jomi has a brainwave, his mother avidly watches a dance programme on TV, so if he and the others can get on the show, she will see him and know where he is. Will Jomi succeed and can there actually be a happy ending for him and his new friends?
The author has created a stunning and heartbreaking story that resonates in so many ways. The themes of homelessness and modern slavery are shocking and we know they are happening across the world. If you then add in the destruction of farmland and forests it makes for a situation that seems almost unbearable. What makes this into an ultimately positive and hopeful story is the attitude of the central characters. Despite all of the tribulations that they suffer, they still manage to retain a sense of optimism and a determination to make their lives better. I really cannot recommend this enough, it is amazing and deserves all the accolades that I am sure it is going to receive in the future.
The Author
Efua Traoré is a Nigerian-German author who grew up in a small town in Nigeria. For as long as she can remember, her head was
filled with little stories, but it was not until much later that she began to write them down.
Apart from Nigeria, she has also lived in France and Germany and she writes in English and in German. If she had her way, she would travel much more and write every single day.
Efua won the 2018 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Africa with her short story ‘True Happiness’ and she is a literature grant holder of the Munich Literaturreferat. Children of the Quicksands is her debut novel which won the Times / Chicken House Prize in 2019.
She lives in Munich with her husband and three daughters.
Photo credit belongs to Boubacar Traoré. Thanks to the Chicken House website
I suspect that we all have experience of houses that are run-down, creepy and have stories told about them. I still remember as a child a house, on my walk home from town, that we had been told was inhabited by a witch! Needless to say we always walked on the opposite side of the road, even though we never saw this person.
down she knew she could be both.
return. Oh, how I wished that I had taken it with me (the explanation will follow shortly.) I had the great pleasure of reviewing Holly’s previous book about “The Boy in the Post” and so it was delightful that I would be able to enjoy the new adventure featuring the three Shalloo siblings, Orinthia, Seafra and Taber.
Norway, starting at Bergen. The story brought back so many lovely memories, especially of the Funicular and the amazing views that you get from the top, but it also reminded me of the arrival into Bergen and the astounding scenery surrounding it. Thank you Holly for creating such a wonderful story and for giving us an insight into the beauty of another country.
Jones. She spent her childhood in Wales, wishing that she was Pippi Longstocking, and after graduating spent time working as an actor, broadcaster and cheese-seller, until one day she had the idea to pen a story about a tenacious young inventor named Demelza. Holly’s days are now spent penning new stories as well as leading drama, craft and bushcraft classes for children. She lives in Brighton with her girlfriend and still wishes that she was Pippi Longstocking.
Wall with her father, who is a fanatical role player; anything from Lord of the Rings to his favourite, the Romans. Everyone is just getting ready for a major re-enactment at Housesteads Fort when some strange things start happening. Worst of all her father suddenly disappears without a word. What follows is like something out of a really bad dream; she can’t really be taken to ancient Romana can she? Not only that but she finds that her ‘missing’ mother is actually the Roman Goddess Bellona; something that I would not want to admit to, having had a look online for a description, but it seems that her uncle Vulcan is behind her father’s disappearance. When Livi is persuaded that the only way to save her father is to retrieve a golden arrow from Vulcan, she takes up the challenge. Needless to say things are not quite as she believed and ‘someone’ may have been telling her some lies! However, you can’t keep a good role player down and with the help of her friends and a lot of ingenuity she might find a way to save her father and halt the army that Bellona is trying to conquer Britannia (Britain) with.
become writers. For a long time, she believed this. But then something magical happened and Marie finally came to realise that girls like her can do anything they want.
Most people probably think that they know the story of the Titanic, whether it is from the film of the same name, or from one of the many documentary programmes that have been televised over the years. Over the years I have been lucky enough to visit exhibitions about the ship, but of course the new Museum in Belfast really brings home the size and quality of the vessel. All of this gives us a very objective view of the ship and the catastrophe, but what Lindsay Galvin does is bring us to the heart and soul of the story.
as testimony on a manual typewriter and it is fascinating to have this real sense that we are reading the original words. What strikes me as surprising is the dates given to the government enquiry, it is only two weeks after the actual tragedy and I can’t imagine that would happen in our modern 
age. What also surprised me was the living conditions for the third class passengers that Sid was looking after. There is a perception that conditions for those lower down the ship were really atrocious, but what comes across here is that they were probably better off than they would have been back in their original homelands.
wrote a short entry for me, all about his influences and where he writes. He spoke about the outline that he was writing for his second book, so it is fantastic to see all of his hard work come to fruition. You can see this first blog entry by searching”Peculiar tale of the Tentacle Boy”
then you are really going to love this book.
north east of England; they are fleeing their horrific experiences during the fall of Singapore to the Japanese. Nisha’s mother suffers an attack of malaria and her life hangs in the balance. Nisha is desperately worried about her mother, but also about her missing father, when she meets a mysterious boy in the garden. No one else seems to know the boy and we gradually realize that he is a ghost, who is linked to the old tree that he sits under. He offers to help her mother and father, if Nisha will find three ‘truths’ in the house. How she tries to do this (without knowing what they are) and how she solves some long-standing mysteries makes for an exciting and yet heart-rending story.
was a great read. It is safe to say that the author has gone from strength to strength.
third book and this time she takes us to a remote Scottish Island, which is hiding a secret. Aarti has lived on the island for most of her life and can remember little else. She is looked after by her ‘Aunt’ and life is extremely hard. they are totally self sufficient, living off the vegetables they grow, the eggs from their hens and anything they can find on the island; the only friend that Aarti has is a fox that she calls Chand, although she doesn’t know where the name comes from.. However, as she grows older, Aarti begins to wonder if she is being told the truth about what happened to her parents and whether they are really dead. There is also the mystery of a locked room that she is not allowed to enter, but when it is left unlocked one day, she goes in and discovers an old stuffed toy that brings back some long-lost memories. One of the few things that Aarti has is a collection of stories about Hindu deities, hence the reference in the title to blue Gods; although why she has this is a mystery.
small boat hidden away in a cave and eventually manage to bring it around to the small harbour. The pair manage to escape from the island and head in what they think is the general direction of other islands and the mainland. Thankfully the boat is rescued during a storm and the youngsters saved; however, that is when things take a very strange turn, because Euan is nowhere to be found and none of the rescuers had seen him on the boat. What happens next totally changes Aarti’s life and helps explain so much of her past, but it is her discoveries about Euan that will probably have the most profound impact on her future.
happening. Young Robbie is the heir to the Sinistevil’s dynasty and whilst he tries very hard to live up to his mother’s expectations, it is obvious that he will never fit (both literally and metaphorically), into his dead brother Brutus’s shoes. The family are the most evil rulers that you can imagine, with a love of killing, looting and pillaging. At the age of 12 years they are made to pledge their heart to a jewelled sceptre, which re-enforces their desire for evil. Nothing gets in their way and there is no such thing as family love or loyalty. The problem is that Robbie really does not fit into this world. He thinks he is evil, but in fact he is a real softy and even has a local peasant girl, Layla, as his friend. When Robbie discovers that he has an artificial heart, after his mother had the real one removed when he was a baby, he decides to go and retrieve the real one, so that he can take the oath to the sceptre. What follows is a funny and yet sad look at someone who is desperate for love and affection, but who cannot see the reality of the family that he is growing up in. Thankfully there are people who want to help Robbie be the good person he is meant to be, although they have their own challenges in life.