Sankofa

Author Chibundu Onuzo
Narrator Sara Powell
Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Run Time 9 hours and 3 minutes
Format Audio
Genre Family life fiction, Modern and contemporary fiction.

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What to expect

A REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICK
A BBC 2 BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION FUTURES PRIZE
AN AMAZON BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

'A captivating story about a mixed-race British woman who goes in search of the West African father she never knew' REESE WITHERSPOON

Anna is at a stage of her life when she's beginning to wonder who she really is. She has separated from her husband, her daughter is all grown up, and her mother - the only parent who raised her - is dead.

Searching through her mother's belongings, she finds clues about the West African father she never knew. Through reading his student diary, chronicling his involvement in radical politics in 1970s London, she discovers that he eventually became the president (some would say the dictator) of a small nation in West Africa - and he is still alive. She decides to track him down and so begins a funny, painful, fascinating journey, and an exploration of race, identity and what we pass on to our children.

'A real pleasure, it's funny, thought-provoking and holds a light up to everything from cultural differences to colonialism' STYLIST

'I LOVED Sankofa SO MUCH' MARIAN KEYES

'Slick pacing and unpredictable developments keep the reader alert right up to the novel's exhilarating ending' GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE DAY

'Onuzo's sneakily breezy, highly entertaining novel leaves the reader rethinking familiar narratives of colonisation, inheritance and liberation' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

'A really great book, very poignant' SARA COX

Critics Review

Utterly compelling … A disarmingly moving, surprisingly hilarious and fascinating journey
Stylist
I LOVED Sankofa SO MUCH. It explores identity, duality, belonging, racism, post-colonialism … and the writing style is beguilingly cool, wry, detached
Marian Keyes
Onuzo displays astonishing imagination and versatility in this fantastic novel about a woman’s search for her personal, familial and national identity, delivered with deadpan humour in captivating prose
Sefi Atta
Captivating… A beautiful book about a woman brave enough to discover her true identity
Reese Witherspoon (2021)
Slick pacing and unpredict able developments keep the reader alert right up to the novel’s exhilarating ending
Guardian Book of the Day
Onuzo’s sneakily breezy, highly entertaining novel leaves the reader rethinking familiar narratives of colonization, inheritance and liberation
New York Times Book Review
A real pleasure, it’s funny, thought-provoking and holds a light up to everything from cultural differences to colonialism
Stylist Unmissable 2021 Fiction
I loved venturing from London to the fictional African nation of Bamana in Sankofa, a novel I found hard to put down
Daily Mail
A really great book, very poignant but also told really straight
Sara Cox, Radio Times
A stirring narrative about family, our capacity to change and the need to belong
Time
Wonderful. Poignant and powerful and so timely and the beautiful ending had me in tears, reminding me to look within as well as without for my answers
Stella Duffy, 2021
Spellbinding . . . Onuzu’s spare style elegantly cuts to the core of her themes. The balancing of Anna’s soul-searching with her thrilling discoveries makes for a satisfying endeavour
Publishers Weekly
Unscrupulous politicians, irresponsible journalism, and the yawning gap between rich and poor feel deeply personal as Anna’s journey unfolds . . . Fresh and new
Library Journal
A hugely compelling novel about identity and the stories we tell about ourselves
Anna James (2021)
An engagingly written journey of self-discovery
Kirkus Reviews
Uniquely layered and lovingly written
Ms Magazine

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