“The boy would die, not understanding his death was a grim godsend to this police anti-robbery team – another chance to stat-pad the number of robberies they claimed to have solved.”
In The City
If you’ve heard any of the songs that inspired the short stories in this collection, you’ll appreciate the depth of their stories even more. However, you don’t need the music to realise the power in the stories.
As a die-hard Nina Simone fan, the sixth story I Put a Spell on You stood out for me from the list and that was the one I read first. It wasn’t just the story itself I found hilarious and captivating, but the language itself, characters throwing in pidgin English, had me falling about.
If you start with the funniest one like I did, you’ll see how some of the stories become more of tearing up than knee-slapping. In a beautiful way, though. When Garrick writes about loss, he knows how to include the reader in that moment of grief. When he writes about corruption, he creates a vivid image of those illicit exchanges.
A best friend lost in the chaos of confras, a true love lost on his way to officially be with the love of his life. When the black sheep of the family doesn’t have long to live and throws a living funeral, his brother and ex-wife take us with them through their turbulent emotions.
The stories bring the everyday stories of Nigeria to life, raw, tender, and blatant. It’s short, with only twelve stories and like me, you will gobble it down in a single day (night) like I did. You’ll have the stories stuck in your head like your favourite songs.
The Book Neighbourhood 