Gasp in wonder Marlon James, author of Black Leopard, Red Wolf
Electrifying Irenosen Okojie, author of Nudibranch
Gasp-inducing AnOther
Joyous, defiant Caleb Azumah Nelson, author of Open Water
Visionary Guardian
VAGABONDS! is a tumultuous and unexpectedly joyous novel of oppression and defiance among the people and spirits of Lagos.
Lagos is a city for all . . . you share this place with flesh and not-flesh, and its just as much their city as it is yours.
Čkó, the spirit of Lagos, and his loyal minion Tatafo weave trouble through the streets of Lagos and through the lives of the vagabonds powering modern Nigeria: the queer, the displaced and the footloose.
With Tatafo as our guide we meet these people in the shadows. Among them are a driver for a debauched politician; a lesbian couple whose tender relationship sheds unexpected light on their experience with underground sex work; a mother who attends a secret spiritual gathering that shifts her reality. As their lives begin to intertwinein markets and underground clubs, in churches and hotel roomsthe vagabonds are seized and challenged by the spirits who command the city. A force is drawing them all together, but for what purpose?
In her debut novel VAGABONDS!, Eloghosa Osunde tackles the insidious nature of Nigerian capitalism, corruption and oppression, and offers a defiant, joyous and inventive tribute to all those for whom life itself is a form of resistance.
Every year promises the birth of the next literary superstar VAGABONDS! is an exceptional debut i-D
Dazzling, haunting, angular and funny TLS
If you read one debut novel this should be it Los Angeles Times
Gasp-inducing captures the lives of outsiders with spirit and tenderness AnOther
There is nothing in the world like this book Lesley Nneka Arimah, author of What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky
