I spotted this book on Netgalley and requested it straight away. Chicklit, but Nigerian. Brilliant.
Yinka is single and this is not acceptable to her mother… or most of the aunties. Her cousin is getting married and she needs to find a date before the wedding, or she’ll never hear the end of it. And then, just to make things worse, she gets made redundant.
Yinka is relatable as a young woman whose life straddles two cultures. I loved the scene where Yinka’s friends from her two ‘worlds’ meet and get on. She’s also relatable as someone who is navigating that tricky space between your first career and your second. Being made redundant is horrible and the way Yinka reacts is so similar to how I felt when I was made redundant.
I loved the complexity of her friendships with Nana, Rachel and Ola. Family friendships are a thing and they are always complicated.
Most of all, I loved that this was a book about a character navigating life and she just happened to be Black. The book is not about racism (apart from the way it pervades everyday life), but about Yinka. Which is exactly as it should be.
This book was charming and funny. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.
Rhoda Baxter 