Take a photo of a barcode or cover
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Murder
Moderate: Drug abuse
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
*Women’s Prize Longlist 2022 - Book 16*
With Creatures of Passage I’m pretty sure I’ve saved the best until last. While I want to give it time to settle I’m virtually certain that, despite the stiff competition, this is my favourite of the sixteen contenders. It is certainly the most challenging not only in terms of structure and style (although I didn’t find it difficult, just complex), but also in terms of content. Be sure to check for trigger warnings before you pick it up. However, the reader is richly rewarded for their effort. The book is stunning and the comparisons with Toni Morrison are not overstated.
Set in Anacostia, a suburb of Washington DC, in 1977, at its simplest it is the story of the Kinwell family - twins Nephthys and Osiris, Osiris’s daughter Amber, and her son Dash. But it is also about so much more. It blends Egyptian mythology, ghosts, alternate history and magical realism with the awful realities of grief, generational trauma, racism, war, child abuse and other harms we do to each other . It is very specific and intimate, while also being universal and timeless. It is incredibly rich, multi-layered and nuanced with lush, poetic prose. Motifs, language and storylines repeat, cycle back and twine around each other. Somehow Yejide has managed to link into a rich literary lineage - not just Morrison but Zora Hurston Neale, Alice Walker and of course the African oral folklore tradition- while remaining unique not derivative. The audio, narrated by the author herself, was compelling and riveting. I was totally absorbed by this story that both was and wasn’t of this world. I loved this book so much that I plan to buy a physical copy and reread - both rarities for me. I’ll also be prioritising her earlier novel.
This won’t be for every reader but I was blown away by this mesmerising tale.
With Creatures of Passage I’m pretty sure I’ve saved the best until last. While I want to give it time to settle I’m virtually certain that, despite the stiff competition, this is my favourite of the sixteen contenders. It is certainly the most challenging not only in terms of structure and style (although I didn’t find it difficult, just complex), but also in terms of content. Be sure to check for trigger warnings before you pick it up. However, the reader is richly rewarded for their effort. The book is stunning and the comparisons with Toni Morrison are not overstated.
Set in Anacostia, a suburb of Washington DC, in 1977, at its simplest it is the story of the Kinwell family - twins Nephthys and Osiris, Osiris’s daughter Amber, and her son Dash. But it is also about so much more. It blends Egyptian mythology, ghosts, alternate history and magical realism with the awful realities of grief, generational trauma, racism, war, child abuse and other harms we do to each other . It is very specific and intimate, while also being universal and timeless. It is incredibly rich, multi-layered and nuanced with lush, poetic prose. Motifs, language and storylines repeat, cycle back and twine around each other. Somehow Yejide has managed to link into a rich literary lineage - not just Morrison but Zora Hurston Neale, Alice Walker and of course the African oral folklore tradition- while remaining unique not derivative. The audio, narrated by the author herself, was compelling and riveting. I was totally absorbed by this story that both was and wasn’t of this world. I loved this book so much that I plan to buy a physical copy and reread - both rarities for me. I’ll also be prioritising her earlier novel.
This won’t be for every reader but I was blown away by this mesmerising tale.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Racism
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Blood, Abandonment
Minor: Vomit, Pregnancy
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
With Creatures of Passage comes a story that explores what can be born and borne of grief, the power it has to both cripple and galvanize us, how the acceptance can lead to a path that is healing and transformative.
Yejidé's writing is heavy, heady, nuanced with feeling and meaning. She seamlessly interweaves the after with the now, connecting life and death via the spirit world, which she writes with such richness that the reader is immersed.
I love books that mesh the spirituality of Black existence into their prose, the meaning and bonds of family, the pain that comes with bottled up emotions and situations not spoken about, and the healing and triumph that begins when we open ourselves to the magic and currents of being.
The dualities of our presence, the ties that physically, emotionally, and spiritually run through communities and homes, the loss of innocence, the hardening of hearts in order to avoid shattering realities course through this story, but with a gentleness that deflects harm.
Yejidé has written characters that burrow into your mind and soul because they all carry hurt and loss within, they all have cares. She has entwined reality with the mystical, making it easy to believe that each is never far from the other and all we have to do is believe.
Yejidé's writing is heavy, heady, nuanced with feeling and meaning. She seamlessly interweaves the after with the now, connecting life and death via the spirit world, which she writes with such richness that the reader is immersed.
I love books that mesh the spirituality of Black existence into their prose, the meaning and bonds of family, the pain that comes with bottled up emotions and situations not spoken about, and the healing and triumph that begins when we open ourselves to the magic and currents of being.
The dualities of our presence, the ties that physically, emotionally, and spiritually run through communities and homes, the loss of innocence, the hardening of hearts in order to avoid shattering realities course through this story, but with a gentleness that deflects harm.
Yejidé has written characters that burrow into your mind and soul because they all carry hurt and loss within, they all have cares. She has entwined reality with the mystical, making it easy to believe that each is never far from the other and all we have to do is believe.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Racism, Death of parent