A NAIJA-SOUTHY AFFAIR


A NAIJA-SOUTHY AFFAIR

 By Lerato Charlotte Letsoso



It is always exciting to see new books coming out, written by authentic Africans, especially unusual ones. This book easily falls into this category... not that the genre is anything special. After all, Romance works are legion. But the background of the main characters here, and the startling symbolism underlying this novel deserves attention.

Bu the way, I like this blog (African Sleuth), not only does it celebrate African works published past and present, it does so with brevity, and often with many other allusions to other African books and authors.  I do not think every book should necessarily incorporate detectives or investigators, though the works become more interesting when there are elements of mystery and surprise in it.

Such is this work, A Naija-Southy Affair, which focuses on a rather unusual relationship, and on two countries with a seeming love-hate nexus. Simplistically though, men and women will always be attracted to each other, regardless of colour, country and creed. When it is like white/black, many heads are turned, whilst products of such liaisons also appear to have the searchlight beamed on them, especially those who happen to be celebrities. 

The examples are legion in our world.  A personal favourite of mine is Sherri Saum, a truly gorgeous actress that I first noticed in the soap opera, Sunset Beach; her mother is from Germany, whilst her father was American (Black). But of course, before her (world famous) we have savoured the thrilling singing skills of Mariah Carey, and the sublime acting skills of Haley Berry, both of them of mixed parentage.

However in this book, the lovers are both Africans, and both black (without white blood). Chidi from Nigeria is an Igbo (Ibo) man; whilst the lady, Cikizwa, from South Africa is a Xhosa woman ( the revered Nelson Mandela was of Xhosa extraction). But because of their different backgrounds, culture, prejudices et al, this particular relationship is fraught with its own glitches.

Hence the beauty of this work. The author,  Lerato Setsoso shows her ingenuity in putting this story together, with an early intriguing background setting the scene.  Thereafter we wade through the twists and turns, discoveries, apparent obstacles, thrills and spills as it were...

A much welcome addition to imaginative African writing and Literature.


Comments

  1. KATHY1 August 2020 at 02:05

    Lovely. Charming!

    ReplyDelete
  2. CHARLES7 August 2020 at 00:59

    Interesting review that opens up other aspects that we can relish

    ReplyDelete

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