The God Child

by Nana Oforiatta Ayim Narrated by Adjoa Andoh

Overview

Bloomsbury presents The God Child by Nana Oforiatta Ayim, read by Adjoa Andoh. 'Engrossing and memorable' Ben Okri 'Meditative, gestural, philosophic: a brave reinvention of the immigrant narrative ... Unprecedented' Taiye Selasi 'I read this novel very slowly. I didn't want to miss anything ... It is a rich, beautiful book and when I got to the end, I wanted to start again' Chibundu Onuzo Maya grows up in Germany knowing that her parents are different: from one another, and from the rest of the world. Her reserved, studious father is distant; and her beautiful, volatile mother is a whirlwind, with a penchant for lavish shopping sprees and a mesmerising power for spinning stories of the family's former glory - of what was had, and what was lost. And then Kojo arrives one Christmas, like an annunciation: Maya's cousin, and her mother's godson. Kojo has a way with words - a way of talking about Ghana, and empire, and what happens when a country's treasures are spirited away by colonialists. For the first time, Maya has someone who can help her understand why exile has made her parents the way they are. But then Maya and Kojo are separated, shuttled off to school in England, where they come face to face with the maddening rituals of Empire. Returning to Ghana as a young woman, Maya is reunited with her powerful but increasingly troubled cousin. Her homecoming will set off an exorcism of their family and country's strangest, darkest demons. It is in this destruction's wake that Maya realises her own purpose: to tell the story of her mother, her cousin, their land and their loss, on her own terms, in her own voice.

Editorial Reviews

The New York Times Book Review - Tope Folarin

This is a story that is obsessed with stories; indeed, The God Child could be described as a series of sharply drawn short fictions, each consequential on its own, each only glancingly connected to the others. As I read this book, with all its leaps in time and space, I sometimes had the sense that there was another narrative running just beneath the surface of the text, some alternate story that the characters I was reading about simultaneously inhabited…At times this feeling was thrilling, and at others maddening. Yet isn't this precisely the experience of migration, of trying to situate yourself in contexts that weren't created for you? Kojo and Maya's migrations eventually lead them back to Ghana, where they hope to find material they need to complete their story, years in the making. A story that, like this one, will illuminate Ghana's history; a story that will coax something whole from the broken parts of their lives.

From the Publisher

A beautifully told story of family secrets and conflicting cultural expectations.” —Booklist (starred review)

“A compelling and ambitious novel . . . Through Maya's disjointed experiences of wandering-searching-leaving-returning, Ayim adroitly navigates the lasting consequences of family dysfunction, immigration, colonial legacy, and political upheaval. Part parable, part history, part warning, The God Child is a resonating, intimate drama of family gone awry across a shrinking global stage.” —Shelf Awareness

“Meditative, gestural, philosophic: a brave reinvention of the immigrant narrative, unapologetically inward-facing, seductively lyric. Cesaire's Notebook meets Duras' Lover. Unprecedented.” —Taiye Selasi, author of GHANA MUST GO

“I read this novel very slowly. I didn't want to miss anything. Maya's story is a journey through Akan history and culture, through migrating and returning home, through colonial subjugation and an assertion of African identity. It is a rich, beautiful book and when I got to the end, I wanted to start again” —Chibundu Onuzo, author of WELCOME TO LAGOS and THE SPIDER KING'S DAUGHTER

“It is a rare kind of woman who enjoys a project so vast that it's practically unfinishable, but Nana Oforiatta Ayim, a Ghanaian gallerist, writer, and historian, never quits what she has started.” —Vogue

“Ghanaian art historian, writer, and filmmaker Nana Oforiatta-Ayim is one of the foremost architects of the contemporary African arts scene . . . building a flourishing arts ecosystem.” —OkayAfrica

“Immigrant narratives are especially important now, and Nana Oforiatta Ayim's is one to take in fully and carefully. Examinations of family, cultural expectations, secrets, legacy and in(ter)dependence are skillfully woven throughout this extraordinary debut.” —Ms. Magazine

“Engrossing and memorable.” —Ben Okri, Man Booker Prize-winning author of THE FAMISHED ROAD

“This is a story that is obsessed with stories . . . I sometimes had the sense that there was another narrative running just beneath the surface of the text . . . At times this feeling was thrilling, and at others maddening. Yet isn't this precisely the experience of migration, of trying to situate yourself in contexts that weren't created for you? . . . A story [like this one] will illuminate Ghana's history . . . will coax something whole from the broken parts.” —New York Times Book Review

“Expansive and contemplative.” —Electric Literature

Product Details

BN ID:	2940195145941
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	03/05/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged

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