Book 6: Blessings (2024) - Chukwuebuka Ibeh

Tuesday March 18

What is the book about?

When Obiefuna’s father witnesses an intimate moment between his teenage son and the family’s apprentice, newly arrived from the nearby village, he banished Obiefuna to a Christian boarding school. Surrounded by unknown faces that soon become friends, lovers and enemies, Obiefuna finds and hides who he truly is, while his mother Uzoamaka grapples to hold on to her favourite son, her truest friend. When he leaves school as a young man, Nigeria criminalizes same-sex relationships, and Obiefuna’s life, or the life he wants to live, becomes even harder to envision – out of reach in a way that is more dangerous and tangible than before.

Fragment (to get an idea of the style)

“It was difficult for Obiefuna to imagine what his life, what their lives, had been prior to Aboy’s arrival. It seemed as if, with Aboy, Obiefuna’s life had finally begun, a life he had been waiting to live. Aboy appeared to fit effortlessly into the fringes of their existence, as if a space had already been cut for him, waiting for him. He fit into his new role at the house without the sense of bewilderment Obiefuna had expected, taking on his assigned chores with a charming grace.”

First sentence

“In October, he came. His arrival was without forewarning, without ceremony.”

Winning second and third sentence:

He moved through the solemn halls with a gentle dignity to where Obiefuna stood, in the midst of his household chore, broom in hand. For that brief, blissful moment, they were alone, together."

Marrit Smit, student of Applied Physics

Nice to know

Chukwuebuka Ibeh (2000)  is a young upcoming Nigerian writer. He followed creatieve writing classes with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Dave Eggers. This book is Ibeh's first novel. You can find it in the University Library .