'Chukwuebuka Ibeh's writing has a certain delicacy to it, so wonderfully observant, and so beautiful' - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
'A sublime coming-of-age tale... an extraordinarily composed and deeply felt debut' - Guardian
When Obiefuna's father witnesses an intimate moment between his teenage son and the family's apprentice, newly arrived from the nearby village, he banishes Obiefuna to a Christian boarding school marked by strict hierarchy and routine, devastating violence. Utterly alienated from the people he loves, Obiefuna begins a journey of self-discovery and blossoming desire, while his mother Uzoamaka grapples to hold onto her favourite son, her truest friend.
Interweaving the perspectives of Obiefuna and his mother Uzoamaka, as they reach towards a future that will hold them both, BLESSINGS is an elegant and exquisitely moving story of love and loneliness. Asking how we can live freely when politics reaches into our hearts and lives, as well as deep into our consciousness, it is a stunning, searing debut.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 WILBUR SMITH ADVENTURE WRITING PRIZE
An excellent debut novel - John Boyne
A moving debut about love and loneliness - Sunday Times
Wonderful, vivid - Patrick Gale
Rezensionen / Stimmen
A tender, yet powerful story, poetic and wise. Ibeh draws such beautiful characters, and through their eyes, teaches us that love cannot be beaten or threatened from the human heart. From the first chapter, this book won't let you go. -- AJ West Wonderful, vivid -- Patrick Gale A moving debut about love and loneliness -- Sunday Times Wow - what a debut! I was left feeling heartbroken yet hopeful. Chukwuebuka Ibeh is a beautiful writer. -- Taylor-Dior Rumble, author of THE SITUATIONSHIP A sublime coming-of-age tale... an extraordinarily composed and deeply felt debut * Guardian * An excellent debut novel -- John Boyne As engaging as doorstoppers can be, there is an unparalleled pleasure in something short and searing. Chukwuebuka Ibeh's debut is set in modern-day Nigeria, where the country's criminalisation of same-sex marriage has created a hostile atmosphere for the LGBTQ+ population. After an intimate moment with the family apprentice, Obiefuna is sent to a Christian boarding school by his father. So begins a process of self-discovery. Blessings is told from Obiefuna and his mother's perspective, a dynamic which has plenty of potential for the profound. * Esquire, The Biggest Books Landing on Your Reading List in 2024 * Stark yet tender, balancing episodes of hope with episodes of gut-plummeting sadness, this is an accomplished novel, distinguished by sensitive prose and taut scene-making * Daily Mail * A magnificent debut... Ibeh has the ability to ensure his political positions inform, rather than overwhelm, the intimate dramas at the heart of his fiction. He's vocal about the writers he admires - among them, Buchi Emecheta, Jhumpa Lahiri, Zadie Smith and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - and clearly ambitious. With writing this good, it's to be hoped he'll soon find his name among their ranks * Daily Telegraph * Blessings... presents a predicament of universal moral application with a near-classical concentration that endorses the identity of its central character, Obiefuna, as a unique individual * TLS, Books of the Year 2024 *
Sprache
Verlagsort
Produkt-Hinweis
Maße
Höhe: 196 mm
Breite: 127 mm
Dicke: 18 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-0-241-61827-1 (9780241618271)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Chukwuebuka Ibeh is a young writer from Port Harcourt, Nigeria. His writing has appeared in McSweeneys, The New England Review of Books and Lolwe, amongst others, and he is a staff writer at Brittle Paper. He was the Runner-up for the 2021 J.F Powers Prize for Fiction, a finalist for the Gerald Kraak Award and Morland Foundation Scholarship and was profiled as one of the "Most Promising New Voices of Nigerian Fiction" in Electric Literature. He has studied creative writing under Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Dave Eggers and Tash Aw. He is a student on a fully funded MFA programme at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, until 2024.
