Bitter Leaf
In BITTER LEAF, the lives of six characters intertwine in the idyllic village of Mannobe, African in nature but never geographically placed.
Babylon, the gifted musician and local lothario captivated by the beautiful Jericho Lwembe newly-returned from the city… Jericho, struggling to settle back in at home after the life and relationship she left outside her hometown… Mabel and M'elle Codón, twin sisters who run the village's most popular eatery and battle local politics alongside old age… Magdalena, Mabel's daughter, the latest casualty of Babylon's ephemeral brand of affection… and Allegory, the self-appointed visionary adopted decades earlier after fleeing his own birthplace…
Set during a time of encroaching commercialisation, these colourful inhabitants try to get to grips with their changing situations, without losing themselves in the process.
Praises for Bitter Leaf
"You'll fall in love with this little village with a huge heart. An evocatively imagined novel about love and loss."
-- NOW magazine
"At the heart of this well-crafted debut novel are the consequences that flow from such a close entwining of the lives and the collapse of the boundary between public and private space ... Okereke's skill lies in her avoidance of moralising while telling this engaging, modern-day morality tale."
-- Financial Times