Staff Pick
To paraphrase the late, great, fictional Omar Little, "a man's got to have a code." What is a person to do when their idea of who they are diverges too greatly from their actions? As an officer in the Nigerian army, Chike Ameobi is no stranger to violence, but he draws the line at killing civilians. When he decides to leave his post and head to Lagos, it's an attempt to reconcile his character and his ideals, to wrest back control of his own destiny. Along the way, he picks up a divergent cast of characters, people like him who are running toward something better, and together they embark on a complicated journey. Welcome to Lagos is a richly detailed snapshot of Nigeria, a portrait of a place that's as full of beauty and contradictions as the characters in this book. Recommended By Lauren P., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
When army officer Chike Ameobi is ordered to kill innocent civilians, he knows it is time to desert his post. As he travels toward Lagos with Yemi, his junior officer, and into the heart of a political scandal involving Nigeria’s education minister, Chike becomes the leader of a new platoon, a band of runaways who share his desire for a different kind of life. Among them is Fineboy, a fighter with a rebel group, desperate to pursue his dream of becoming a radio DJ; Isoken, a 16-year-old girl whose father is thought to have been killed by rebels; and the beautiful Oma, escaping a wealthy, abusive husband.
Full of humor and heart, Welcome to Lagos is a high-spirited novel about aspirations and escape, innocence and corruption. It offers a provocative portrait of contemporary Nigeria that marks the arrival in the United States of an extraordinary young writer.
Review
"Overflowing with lush descriptive commentary, Welcome to Lagos doesn’t just give us a glimpse of Nigeria, it transports us there. Onuzo’s storytelling is masterful, her characters are irresistible, and her voice is astounding in its subtle power. Onuzo stands on the shoulders of Chinua Achebe and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and from her perch offers her own fresh, but assured view." Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, author of A Kind of Freedom
Review
"Chibundu Onuzo has written a compulsively readable book that pulsates with the energy of one of the world's greatest cities. She cracks Lagos wide open, deftly showing us the lives of the strivers, dreamers, orphans, heroes and villains who make up this world. A complex, layered portrait of a singular place that brims with a piercing, incisive affection for its subject." Kaitlyn Greenidge, author of We Love You, Charlie Freeman
Review
"Welcome to Lagos is a delicate, honest depiction of humanity in a country’s darkest periods. Chibundu Onuzo brilliantly captures the essence of a people and a place." Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of Here Comes The Sun
Synopsis
An Official Belletrist Book Pick
An American Booksellers Association Indie Next Pick
Elle.com, 1 of 32 Best Books to Read This Summer
"Welcome to Lagos doesn't just give us a glimpse of Nigeria, it transports us there. Onuzo's storytelling is masterful, her characters are irresistible, and her voice is astounding in its subtle power. Onuzo stands on the shoulders of Chinua Achebe and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and from her perch offers her own fresh, but assured, view." --Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, author of A Kind of Freedom
When the army officer Chike Ameobi is ordered to kill innocent civilians, he knows it is time to desert his post. As he travels toward Lagos with Yẹmi, his junior officer, and into the heart of a political scandal involving Nigeria's education minister, Chike becomes the leader of a new platoon, a band of runaways who share his desire for a different kind of life. Among them are Fineboy, a fighter with a rebel group, desperate to pursue his dream of becoming a radio DJ; Isoken, a sixteen-year-old girl whose father is thought to have been killed by rebels; and the beautiful Oma, escaping a wealthy, abusive husband.
Welcome to Lagos is a high-spirited novel about aspirations and escape, innocence and corruption. Full of humor and heart, it offers a provocative portrait of contemporary Nigeria that marks the arrival in the United States of an extraordinary young writer.
Synopsis
An Official Belletrist Book Pick An American Booksellers Association Indie Next Pick Selected to Best of Summer Reading Lists by Parade, Elle, NYLON, PopSugar, The Millions, PureWow, Women.com, Hearst Media, Bitch Media, Read it Forward "Storylines and twists abound. But action is secondary to atmosphere: Onuzo excels at evoking a stratified city, where society weddings feature 'ice sculptures as cold as the unmarried belles' and thugs write tidy receipts for kickbacks extorted from homeless travelers." --The New Yorker When army officer Chike Ameobi is ordered to kill innocent civilians, he knows it is time to desert his post. As he travels toward Lagos with Yemi, his junior officer, and into the heart of a political scandal involving Nigeria's education minister, Chike becomes the leader of a new platoon, a band of runaways who share his desire for a different kind of life. Among them is Fineboy, a fighter with a rebel group, desperate to pursue his dream of becoming a radio DJ; Isoken, a 16-year-old girl whose father is thought to have been killed by rebels; and the beautiful Oma, escaping a wealthy, abusive husband.
Full of humor and heart, Welcome to Lagos is a high-spirited novel about aspirations and escape, innocence and corruption. It offers a provocative portrait of contemporary Nigeria that marks the arrival in the United States of an extraordinary young writer.
Synopsis
"Storylines and twists abound. But action is secondary to atmosphere: Onuzo excels at evoking a stratified city, where society weddings feature 'ice sculptures as cold as the unmarried belles' and thugs write tidy receipts for kickbacks extorted from homeless travelers." --The New Yorker When army officer Chike Ameobi is ordered to kill innocent civilians, he knows it is time to desert his post. As he travels toward Lagos with Yemi, his junior officer, and into the heart of a political scandal involving Nigeria's education minister, Chike becomes the leader of a new platoon, a band of runaways who share his desire for a different kind of life. Among them is Fineboy, a fighter with a rebel group, desperate to pursue his dream of becoming a radio DJ; Isoken, a 16-year-old girl whose father is thought to have been killed by rebels; and the beautiful Oma, escaping a wealthy, abusive husband.
Full of humor and heart, Welcome to Lagos is a high-spirited novel about aspirations and escape, innocence and corruption. It offers a provocative portrait of contemporary Nigeria that marks the arrival in the United States of an extraordinary young writer.
About the Author
Chibundu Onuzo was born in 1991 in Lagos, Nigeria. She studied History at King's College London and is currently pursuing a PhD in History at the same institution. Her short stories have been commissioned by BBC Radio and she writes for the Guardian, with a special interest in Nigeria.
Chibundu Onuzo on PowellsBooks.Blog
Silence is required to write a novel. Music is required to survive the process. All of the songs in this playlist are songs I listened to while I was writing or editing
Welcome to Lagos. Some of them are Lagos in song, while others are just songs Lagosians like to dance to. Some are songs that I think my characters would have listened to...
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