Publishers Weekly
01/09/2023
Nnuro debuts with an engrossing saga of two Ghanaian siblings and their shared desire to make it in America. Belinda, the brighter and more tenacious of the two, moves to the U.S. for college in the late 1980s, becomes a lawyer, and marries Wilder, a wealthy Black businessman. Belinda’s older brother, Jacob, stays behind in Ghana and seethes with jealousy. He has no financial stability, and his love life is stymied by his preferences for S&M relationships. Belinda tries to help him out by setting him up with her former roommate, Patricia, and though the two never meet, they end up getting married, and for a while, Jacob is hopeful. As he tries to secure a visa so he can be with Patricia in Virginia, Belinda’s green card application keeps getting delayed. After Jacob is twice rejected for a visa, his old jealousy returns, unaware as he is of Belinda’s struggle not just with the green card process but also with a husband whose experience of being Black in the U.S. challenges her glorified view of the country. Nnuro explores a range of themes, from familial bonds to sexuality, racism, and the pitfalls of the colonized mindset. This author has much to offer. Agent: Richard Abate, 3 Arts Entertainment. (Feb.)
From the Publisher
Praise for What Napoleon Could Not Do:
“What Napoleon Could Not Do is a multifaceted drama of familial relationships, duty, loss, and dreams deferred. Nnuro creates beautiful symmetry between America and Ghana, juxtaposing the physically draining disappointments of the Ghanaian government with the emotionally draining letdowns of the U.S. bureaucracy. He boldly explores discrimination across and within race and culture and intricately crafts characters readers will feel intimately connected with. In this deeply thoughtful tale, Nnuro establishes himself as a powerful storyteller.” —Booklist
“[A] pristine debut …Belinda, Wilder and Belinda’s feckless brother Jacob form the heart of Nnuro’s novel, which explores how one extended Ghanian family grapples with its strained relationship with America, a country that mistreats them despite the family’s constant efforts to do right …Nnuro’s language is economical, precise, but never artless.” —The New York Times Book Review
“A carefully captured account of sibling rivalry, diverging ambitions, and the rot at the heart of the American Dream.” —Elle
“[An] intelligent and wrenching debut.” —Vulture
“Spellbinding… In this compelling and insightful debut, Nnuro delivers a nuanced exploration of the American Dream's broken promises.” —Esquire
“What an intricately textured and deeply thoughtful novel this is. What Napoleon Could Not Do is a powerful debut, an exploration of family that's at once intimate and expansive.” —Claire Lombardo, author of The Most Fun We Ever Had
“In his brilliant debut, DK Nnuro shows us what happens when we do—and don’t—get our heart’s desire. The characters in this novel are fascinating in their honesty, their hope, and their humor, and their story is unforgettable: involving, surprisingly, and very human.” —Kate Christensen, author of The Great Man and Trouble
“What Napoleon Could Not Do is an exquisitely written meditation on family, secrets, duty, loss, and the desire for success and inner peace. D.K. Nnuro has crafted each character—whether their role is large or small—with great care and singularity. What a striking debut.” —De'Shawn Charles Winslow, author of the award-winning In West Mills
“DK Nnuro’s striking first novel offers its readers a highly nuanced portrait of how the shadow of American hegemony shapes the lives of two Ghanian siblings, one who immigrates and one who doesn’t. In Nnuro's deft hands, these particulars rise into a vision, panoramic in scope, of the global trade not in goods and services but in fantasy, desire, and regret. Jacob and Belinda are characters you will not soon forget, and the ache of their lives caught between Ghana and the United States is at the heart of this subtle, surprising, and captivating novel.” —Adam Haslettt, author of Imagine Me Gone
“What a majestic, poignant debut. So often I wanted to pull these characters to the side, as one would a friend, and hug them and ask, what are you doing? The storytelling is exquisite. It delights in its intellect, its precision and its keen, surprising insights. Nnuro is a writer of supreme powers. Here is a storyteller of the ages.” —Novuyo Rosa Tshuma, author of House of Stone and I Dream America
