LoveReading Says
LoveReading Says
Crackling with themes of injustice and the potency of female struggles and energy, Chikodili Emelumadu’s Dazzling debut is exactly that. A glittering gallery of Nigerian spirit mythology, and the indomitable spirits of two girls who are compelled to make excruciating choices in the wake of their fathers’ legacies.
At the age of eight, “on the day Ozoemena’s uncle died, she developed an itch in the middle of her back that no amount of scratching could ease.” This itch is born of her patrilineal fate, for it marks her out as being destined to become a leopard. A wild being that will defend her people, for “a leopard’s work is crucial…In the time of our foremothers and fathers, the leopards are the ones that kept the rules of the land.” The leopards also “tangled with the British, scattered them. Those white men, they would have taken more of our people if the leopards were not fighting them hand and foot.” Such is the responsibility of Ozoemena’s gift.
At the same time, Treasure’s daddy has died, leaving her mother broken and the family poor. In such trying circumstances, Treasure inadvertently summons a spirit who “resembles a starving lizard”, and who pledges to bring back her father, but only if she marries him.
What rich world-building, and what characters. As both girls struggle with their lot, decisions, and responsibilities in a world that is deeply unfair, the universe Dazzling occupies is sublimely crafted, and shot-through with invention as the story careers to an earth-shattering climax
Joanne Owen
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Dazzling Synopsis
Soon you will become the thing all other beasts fear.
Treasure and her mother lost everything when Treasure's daddy died. Haggling for scraps in the market, Treasure meets a spirit who promises to bring her father back - but she has to do something for him first.
Ozoemena has an itch in the middle of her back that can't be scratched. An itch that speaks to her patrilineal destiny, to defend her people by becoming a leopard. Her father impressed upon her what an honour this was before he vanished, but it's one she couldn't want less.
But as the two girls reckon with their burgeoning wildness and the legacy of their fathers' decisions, Ozoemena's fellow students at her new boarding school start to vanish. Treasure and Ozoemena will face terrible choices as each must ask herself: in a world that always says 'no' to women, what must two young girls sacrifice to get what is theirs?
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781472289681 |
| Publication date: |
15th February 2024 |
| Author: |
Chikodili Emelumadu |
| Publisher: |
Wildfire an imprint of Headline Publishing Group |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
368 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Literary Fiction
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| Other Genres: |
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| Recommendations: |
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Press Reviews
Chikodili Emelumadu Press Reviews
I am truly dazzled. Emelumadu has revealed surprising layers of our world and given me the eyes to see them. -- Tracy Chevalier, author of GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING and A SINGLE THREAD
On starting Chikodili Emelumadu's Dazzling, I was immediately impressed by her virtuosic facility with language and fierce imagination. Enchanted by both Ozoemena and Treasure, I wondered how their parallel stories would come together. As the novel progressed, I became increasingly intrigued with its magical realism and folklore. The storylines converge in an unexpected, explosive, and deeply satisfying conclusion that had me turning right back to the beginning to appreciate all that I missed the first time round. Bravo! I envy other readers their first and subsequent reads. -- Melissa Fu, author of PEACH BLOSSOM SPRING
Dazzling is a feast of shimmering , beautiful prose. Dark and humorous in places, it is an incessantly pleasurable read. Emelumadu has gifted us a thing of beauty. -- Chika Unigwe, author of ON BLACK SISTER STREET and NIGHT DANCER
I struggled to come up with a line that captures the magic within. Emelumadu's singular debut is uncanny and affecting in equal measure. -- T. L. Huchu, author THE HAIRDRESSER OF HARARE and THE LIBRARY OF THE DEAD
A vibrant, immersive read that takes the reader on a dizzying journey through Nigerian mythology - Emelumadu does what I love best in this novel: she lays bare human weaknesses and celebrates female strength; she builds a world bursting with magic, bright and visceral; she has created two immensely memorable protagonists and woven a story that will linger in my mind for a long time. -- Jennifer Saint, author of ARIADNE, ELEKTRA and ATALANTA
Chikodili Emelumadu has written one hell of a book. Dazzling is bold, funny, louche, smart, shocking and very, very addictive. It seizes you by the scruff of the neck & plunges you into a world packed with juicy characters, macabre magic and plotting to die for. I loved it. -- Meg Clothier, author of THE BOOK OF EVE
This book is a masterful storm. The voices are so precise and clear they cut you. Reading through the pages took me deep into the dappled world of Ozoemena and her leopard, and I will never be able to leave. -- Doreen Cunningham, author of SOUNDINGS
I was bewitched... I would not have guessed this was first novel; Emelumadu seems to have writing naturally in the blood -- Tracy Chevalier, author of THE GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING
Author
About Chikodili Emelumadu
Chikodili Emelumadu was born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire and raised in Awka, Nigeria. A product of not one but two Nigerian boarding schools, she went on to attend Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Nigeria and the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. She was the winner of the Curtis Brown First Novel Prize in 2019. Her work has also been shortlisted for the Shirley Jackson Awards (2015), a Nommo Award (2020) and the Caine Prize for African Literature (2017 & 2020).
Follow Chikodili Emelumadu on Instagram:@chikodiliemelumadu
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