A review by uzoma
Everything Good Will Come by Sefi Atta

3.0

Maybe I'm just biased in favor of Igbo writers, that could very well be true. I can't deny that the moment the child narrator dismissed the horror of the Biafran war in the first couple of pages of this book, I did go "these yoruba people have never cared about us" in my head. But that's unfair to the writer because she does take pains to show that the childish view of the narrator is just that--childish. And then I was just bored for a while, a lot of telling and not showing. A lot of exposition and listing of events in the life. This book only started hitting for me when her Dad was exposed as a liar and hypocrite. And then the continual exposure of Nigerian men as the useless, lay-about oppressive group that they are. Then I was like "yes my sista, tell am how de men dey for Nigeria." The patriarchal bullshit is entirely too much and has ruined so many generations of men and boys. To the point where you can feel betrayed by even your own father and open your eyes one day to realize yes, all men.
...

Anyway, up Enitan. This was really a coming of age/coming alive story for her and I support her. I'm proud of her and scared for her in the sense that I really feel like this story is semi-autobiographical for the author. Doesn't stop me from wishing though that we'd gotten Sherri's story instead. Lol.