4 out of 5 stars

This book is a good reminder that the past is a foreign country. Even though she was born and grew up there, she has Saro-Wira has lived most of her life in the UK. Whilst she returned regularly after her father was murdered, she hadn’t returned for a long time.

Returning there became safe after a change of government and this would be the opportunity to see her home country through adult eyes and see if she could find the things that her late father loved so much about the place.

It is a place that is full of life and people and noise and smells and brings the memories flooding back. Growing up there she was not allowed the freedoms that she now had to travel all over the country and find family members and speak to all manner of people. Having lived away from Nigeria for a while gave her an insight into the pulse of the country and its foibles and strengths.

She comes to realise what her father loved and hated in equal measure about the country. The corruption is rife, from the very top to the bottom and even though the politics is cleaner than it was, there is still a dark undercurrent. I really liked this book, the writing shows the passion that she has for Nigeria still and she is a great describer of the characters that she meets, both family and the people in the street. Even though this was published nearly 10 years ago, this is still worth reading for an insider’s view of Nigeria.

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