Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions

July 15, 2022
A novel in stories that orbits four girls who meet in boarding school in Nigeria. Remi, Nonso, Aisha, and Solape become fast friends as schoolgirls. The book's title refers to an incident that occurs on campus in 1986 and changes their lives irrevocably. When an acrimonious principal fires several teachers beloved by their pupils, students revolt. Some girls participate in the protest and some don't, but they all experience lasting consequences from the choices they make in this single moment of their childhoods. The first of the book's connected stories takes place long before the uprising and centers a grandmother of one of the girls in an origin story of sorts that demonstrates this writer's capacious vision. The stories that follow trace the trajectories of the girls' lives as they grow into ambitious, cosmopolitan, globe-trotting women and introduce others who populate their worlds. One story, narrated by Remi's college sweetheart, takes place in the Bronx; a story narrated by Solape's mother and another by Nonso's housekeeper are set in Nigeria nine years apart. In this way Ogunyemi widens the aperture beyond the tight-knit friendship among the central characters to address family dynamics, race relations, changing political landscapes in the United States and Nigeria, and the ways in which women and girls adapt, endure, and thrive. These stories both collapse and reconstruct the coming-of-age arc in a refreshing way. The final story shines brightest in imagining a near future for the elders the girls become, and for the U.S. and Nigeria, that exceeds Aristotle's maxim that a good ending be surprising yet inevitable. Ogunyemi explores myriad themes, from religion and fundamentalism to grief and resilience, capitalism and corruption, with aplomb. This kaleidoscopic narrative features engaging sociopolitical drama alongside a charismatic cast of characters.

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August 22, 2022
Nigerian writer Ogunyemi debuts with a dynamic novel in stories featuring four women and their lost illusions. Schoolmates Nonso, Remi, Aisha, and Solape become close friends at a Nigerian boarding school in the 1980s, where, in the title story, the girls are consumed with “spite-filled delight” while protesting the school’s contentious principal for firing several beloved teachers. Their revolt, while personally liberating and unifying, ends tragically. The stories that follow explore their professional success and interpersonal betrayal. “Reflections from the Hood of a Car” picks up with Remi’s former lover, now living in the Bronx in 1991. In “Last Stop, Jibowu,” set in 2005, Nonso lives in Brooklyn and works as an investment banker, while the short “Area Boy Rescue” dictates the daily trials of Nonso’s housekeeper. The ambitious closer, “Messenger RNA,” set in 2050, imagines a 78-year-old Aisha savoring a “nice, comfortable silence” and the company of her granddaughter. Through the many leaps in time and views from supporting characters, Ogunyemi succeeds at showing how each of the four women’s lives were shaped by their fiery youth. These richly developed stories are resonant and rewarding.

September 1, 2022

DEBUT From the first chapter, set in 1900s Nigeria, to a jaw-dropping finale that takes place in a dystopian 2050, this debut from Ogunyemi (a professor of preventive and social medicine at Charles R. Drew Univ. of Medicine and Science) imagines an unforgettable cast of characters, beginning with the unorthodox union of female leader Adaoma; her wife Fodo; and Fodo's lover Imma. Their offspring become the thread that weaves together a tale of four smart, resilient women--Nonso, Remi, Solape, and Aisha--who first meet while staging an insurrection at their boarding school. Over decades, through professional successes, marriages, divorces, parenthood, and loss, the women move between Nigeria and the United States while navigating the �migr�'s dilemma: they straddle two cultures and are at home in neither. Nonso climbs the corporate ladder yet feels lost in Brooklyn, craving the foods and smells of Ibadan, while Remi, a mathematician juggling kids and husband in upstate New York, resents her Lagosian father's persistent demands for remittances. As a college student new to the Bronx, Remi's husband Segun had conjured his dead father's warning about the United States, tamping down fear and powerlessness when facing a couple of rookie cops with bad intentions. VERDICT These beautifully rendered stories form an impressive whole that will please multiple literary tastes, combining Nigerian history with a touch of mysticism, and contemporary familial angst with a dire futuristic vision.--Sally Bissell

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Starred review from August 1, 2022
Ogunyemi's writing has the power to reverberate through generations. She captures the spirit of Nigeria and gives voice to the complicated mix of disappointment, fierce loyalty, and adoration Nigerians have for their country. Her first book, a novel-in-stories, follows four best friends, Remi, Nonso, Aisha, and Solape, who meet in boarding school and forge a lasting friendship built on survival and compassion. When tragedy strikes during a failed student rebellion against an authoritarian head teacher, the girls' friendship is cemented in a shared loss that shapes the rest of their lives. Each woman is intelligent, ambitious, and dreams fully and selflessly. Nonso's life is influenced by a childhood trip to Ghana where she encountered the painful legacy of slavery on the African continent. Remi finds a partner to help her confront painful family wounds. Aisha is finally absolved of lifelong guilt through a selfless act in her old age. Each story is deeply moving and the whole is so well-paced readers will be shocked at how quickly they reach the last page. Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions celebrates friendship, the power of community and home, and the joy of being a woman able to take control of her destiny.

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