2021 was a massive year for Nigerian writers within the country and in the Diaspora. Nigerian readers had wonderful books to read and keep themselves entertained in the year 2021. Nigeria’s literary world every year is always bursting with new voices and at the same time older, yet evergreen voices too.
Read more about Top 10
This society is full of energy and fire. It is no longer news that Nigeria is the home to the world’s finest writers. While we are yet to digest the sumptuous literary works of our teeming talents in the year 2021, we have identified fresh works that will be on our faces in the coming months of 2022. In this article, we handpicked the top 10 masterpieces for the year 2022. So fasten your seatbelts as we explore the most anticipated books of 2022.
Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?
Author: Lizzie Damilola Blackburn.
Publisher:
Available: January 18, 2022.
Synopsis
The typical question often asked to Nigerian ladies of “marriageable” who are yet to get their husbands, Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband? explores the life of a thirty-something years old woman who attempts to find herself a wedding date. In course of her quest, she learns invaluable lessons about life and love. Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband? is Lizzie Damilola Blackburn’s debut and has been described as crisp and utterly educating.
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty
Author: Akwaeke Emezi.
Publisher:
Available: May 24, 2022.
This book weaves a romantic story around a woman named Feyi who lost her lover in an accident. She tries to ease herself into a dating scene five years before the incident. As usual, Akwaeke Emezi does not disappoint. Known for her controversial lifestyle, Akwaeke’s new book will give us the chills as it is already being adapted into a movie.
Harry Sylvester Bird
Author: Chinelo Okparanta.
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Available: August 2022.
Synopsis.Harry Sylvester Bird is about a White American man whose life is caught between his education and miseducation as a result of his conservative upbringing. His life faces new twists and turns as he moves to New York City where he is confronted with white supremacy and other social anxieties.
Blood Scion
Author: Deborah Faye.
Publisher: Harper Teen.
Available: March 8, 2022.
Synopsis
Motivated by the African child soldier crisis, this book follows a descendant of the gods of Orisha as she digs out the truth from what happened with her mom years ago.
My Life as a Chameleon
Author: Diana Anyakwo.
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group.
Available: 25 Aug 2022.
Synopsis
The story narrates the life of a fifteen-year-old Lilly who moves from her Nigerian home to a new school in Manchester, England. She sought to reinvent herself from a timid to a happy and bubbly lively teenager that would be loved by everyone through this new move. Unfortunately, this didn’t turn out as imagined by Lilly. She recollects her childhood that was peppered with family trauma, which she believes is responsible for the downward spiral her life was taking. She fights to reinvent herself, but will she succeed?
Sign up to the Connect Nigeria daily nesletter
Umuokpu: Women, Trade And Politics In Southeastern Nigeria
Author: Gozie Ofonze and Nnaemeka Enemchukwu.
Publisher: Prometheus Press, Inc.
Available: February 2022.
Synopsis
Contrary to popular opinion that women were powerless and had no significant political, economic, social and religious influence in Igboland, Gozie Ofonze and Nnaemeka Enemchukwu in their book respond to this as they explored the Umụọkpụ, a powerful female institution in Igboland who were reputed for their influence in trade and politics – an influence that began from antiquity and is still alive in this twenty-first century.
Umụọkpụ is inarguably the most influential female social-cultural group, reputed for its powerful influence on trade, which rubbed off on the social and political and religious aspects of the Igboland. An institution steeped in the supernatural and the mysterious, the Umụọkpụ was and is still a dreaded religious group that built the Eke market of Umuoji from where they wield their influence. They were custodians of traditions and even acted as a social control mechanism.
With the advent of colonialism, Christianity and western education, the institution is embattled and struggles for survival and relevance. This book is worth the read for those interested not only in the political and socio-economic history of Igboland but in Gender Studies. It is a prototype of African women in history.
Vagabond!
Author: Eloghosa Osunde.
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group.
Available: 15 March 2022.
SynopsisVagabond! by Eloghosa Osunde is a blend of matter-of-fact realism, myth and fantasy, which explores what society terms outcasts – the queer, the displaced, the poor and the rogue spirits. The story is booze of spiritual hyperbole as it shed light on various characters who are all too interesting yet baffling. It is a story of a driver for a lecherous politician with the power to decree life and death; a celebrated fashion designer who gives birth to a grown daughter; a lesbian couple whose tender relationship sheds unexpected light on their experience with underground sex work; a wife and mother who attends a secret spiritual gathering that shifts her world. The story is super astonishing as it alternates between real and unreal.
Bridges Are For Burning
Author: Bina Idonije.
Publisher: Masobe Books.
Available: First Quarter of 2022.
Synopsis
The story will be full of high dramas as it narrates the life of Oghogho ‘Gigi’ Dempster who goes in search of intimacy that forever changed her life. A single lady at thirty-one who is ready to mingle after a two-year hiatus of love-life; she had been building a career in her fledgeling social media company. She goes on an adventure to find intimacy, and an event that occurred on the eve of Valentine’s Day will forever cause a dramatic shift in her life.
What Happened to Janet Uzor
Author
Publisher: Masobe Books.
Available: 2022.
Synopsis
The story centres around a girl named Janet Uzor who died in a drowning incident. A year later her best friends move on in their unique ways: Pamela buries her emotion and moves on, but Ebere is on a quest to uncover what happened to Janet Uzor who is supposedly a good swimmer. Her death seemed fishy, and Ebere is hell-bent on knowing what happened. For this, she received death-threatening letters. She has to confront her fears, she employs the help of her friend, Pamela, her unstable boyfriend Eche and a good friend Daniel Kalio. Together they join forces to uncover the circumstances surrounding the drowning of Janet Uzor.
A Spell Of Good Things
Author: Ayobami Adebayo
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Available: Summer of 2022.
Synopsis
A SPELL OF GOOD THINGS is weaved around two families in Nigeria who are at the opposite end of the economic divide. Their lives clashes when a political upheaval erupts in their city. Eniola and Wuraola will face the greatest test of their newly consummated marriage in the face of political chaos.
Featured Image Source: The Education DailyGot a suggestion? Contact us: editor@connectnigeria.com
