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The Bead Collector

"This engrossing multi-layered masterwork explores personal and political identities in mid-seventies Lagos."

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LoveReading Says

LoveReading Says

Witty, profound and illuminating, this will surely see its acclaimed author receive many more accolades. Our setting is Lagos, 1976, where a new military regime has been in power for six months. Amidst a politically tense atmosphere - a countercoup is anticipated – Nigerian greetings-card shop owner Remi meets Frances, an American bead collector. The two women strike up a friendship of sorts, sharing views on the likes of motherhood, politics, their cultural and personal differences. Remi’s husband is deeply suspicious of Frances, and suspects she’s a spy, a view Remi thinks is absurd until the bloody coup comes, and she worries she was wrong to trust Frances.

This immersive novel serves up many insights into Lagos life and politics, and Remi is a riveting narrator – an intelligent, intriguing woman who carries herself with composure and makes many shrewd observations about the world, from male power (“Perhaps that was why peace was unattainable. The inability of men to define what it meant to win or lose”), to the brutally simplistic approach of British colonialists (“Where were the considerations for intricacies like how our cultures and religions overlapped?”), and American self-preservation (“Everyone knew the United States picked and chose which countries to meddle with”).  I came away feeling enlightened, and entertained by Remi’s wit.

Head to our 'Black Lit Matters' list to find more must-read novels by black writers.

Joanne Owen

Star Books

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Primary Genre Thriller and Suspense
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