Better Never than Late, 2019, Chika Unigwe *****

This is a collection of short stories that narrates on the lives of Nigerian immigrants in Belgium. it consists of ten short stories somehow interconnected.

The Transfiguration of Rapu: How do you cope when you have to pretend you aren't the real wife because your husband is married to another person in order to legalise his situation.

Finding Faith: My favourite of them all, though it is a sadly engaging story of loss. How do we deal with the loss of our loved ones when we are so far away from home and immersed in a different culture?

If Finding Faith is sadly engaging, the story of Agu and Prosperous is enraging. Their story occupied two chapters of the novel "Becoming Prosperous and Every One Deserves Grace". After the riot that put an end to Agu's business in Jos, he decides
to leave Nigeria with Prosperous. A decision that they regret but don't know how to deal with that feeling of sadness and disappointment that keeps on pestering their relationship.

Better Never than Late left me in distraught, I really do not understand how a child could be abused in the name of holy deliverance.

Cunny Man Die, Cunny Man Bury Am and Love of a Fat Woman are stories that narrate on sham marriage from the victim's point of view.

Cleared for Takeoff is also one of my favourites, as I think it is so important to change something if we don't like it.

How to Survive a Heat Wave is a troubling read.

Heart Is Where The Home Is is a real eyeopener, the memories we have of people and places do not really correspond to reality when we've been out of touch with them for years.

I really enjoyed this novel, it is a compelling page turner that keeps you on the edge of your seat. It somehow reminds me of Traveller by Helon Habila. I highly recommend.

from Mary Okeke Reviews https://ift.tt/2AObdfX

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