Great Female Leads
Below are books by debut novelists Braithwaite and Adegoke and the highly acclaimed Ngozi Adichie. Coincidentally, these authors all have Nigerian heritage, perhaps unsurprising given that Nigeria has nearly 3% of the world’s population.
What links these books is not the writers’ ethnicity but the complex female characterisation.
To understand why it is so important to have complex female characterisation, read the transcript of Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk, We Should All Be Feminists, HERE.
You can also grab a free ebook, How NOT To Write Female Characters, to help writers be like Ngozi Adichie, Braithwaite and Adegoke. Download your copy HERE.
1) Half of a Yellow Sun By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
This 2006 novel is set during the Nigerian Civil War of 1967 to 1970. Adapted into a 2013 film of the same name, the novel deals with love and war. It won the Woman’s Prize for Fiction as the best book over the last twenty-five years of the Prize.
The book shows the devastating effects of colonialism, war, and forced migration on people’s lives.
It shows the changing role of women and how they are the true heroes during wartime.
2) My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
This 2018 debut novel by British-Nigerian writer Braithwaite is laugh-out-loud funny.
The humour is impressive, given the book is about a serial killer.
With male victims, it upends the trope of female dead bodies in crime fiction. Braithwaite said she was inspired by the black widow spider, which eats the male after mating with it.
Set in Lagos, the book has a strong sense of place with the tropical rain and traffic jams. It is also relevant to now with a social media influencer character. The plot zips along for a fun, fast read.
3) The List by Yomi Adegoke
Adegoke’s 2023 debut novel is thought-provoking about race, feminism, class and social media. She writes about an influencer couple living in London whose lives are changed when one of them is anonymously accused of sexual assault.
It considers the ethics of the cancellation culture and the impact of the #MeToo movement. Adegoke balances how we need to believe victims while highlighting how anonymous allegations can destroy lives.
Enjoy these great books!
BIO: Eimear Kilcullen loves stories of all kinds, whether written or visual. Based in Dublin, she is working on a horror short story anthology, a trio of short stories and a YA book from the same dystopian world. Connect with her on Linkedin, HERE.
