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It is undeniable that a lot of great work is currently being done in Nollywood today. But equally undeniable is the fact that the surface of possibilities has barely been scratched. There are still thousands of stories to be told. I, for one, am always confounded about why Nollywood has barely explored the plethora of intriguing stories that already exist in Nigerian literature, bringing them alive to viewers on the screen.
In our latest book recommendation, we have compiled a list of seven books that are perfect for Nollywood film adaptations. From the story of a man who mysteriously transforms into a white person, constituting a biting satire about a race relations in Nigeria, to a brilliant woman’s account of her experiences in the male-dominated scene of Nigerian politics, the books on this list will certainly make blockbuster films!
Read our recommendations below.
stay with me
author: Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀
Genre: fiction
Yejide and Akin have been in love since they met at the University of Ife. In 1981, they finally get married and hope to have a great life together. However, things get complicated when, four years into their marriage, the couple still can’t conceive. Akin’s mother has grown increasingly unsatisfied with this and, desperate for grandchildren, arranges for Akin to take a second wife.
With the second wife’s arrival, Yejide intensifies her attempts to get pregnant, which she eventually does, but at great cost.
Stay With Me is the debut novel of Nigerian author Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, published in 2017. In this novel, Adébáyọ̀ explores the toll expectations of maternity takes on a young woman’s life and marriage.
purple hibiscus
AUTHOR: chimamanda ngozi adichie
GENRE: fiction
In Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s debut novel, Purple Hibiscus, she brings us into the interior lives of a teenage girl coming of age in Enugu and her family.
Kambili Achike is 15 years old, bright, and introverted. She lives in Enugu with her brother Jaja, her mother Beatrice, all of their lives dominated and terrorized by the brutal, overbearing Eugene Achike. To the world, Eugene is wealthy businessman, devoted Catholic, and adored philanthropist; but his family’s experience of him is sharply different. At home, Eugene is the father who expects strict excellence from his children, the husband who expects submission from his wife whom he occasionally physically abuses, and the son who treats his own father cruelly.
Growing up in the shadows of such a man, Kambili and her brother are timid and naïve, living in constant fear. Until a holiday with their aunt Ifeoma and her children changes their lives forever.
Everything Good Will Come
authOR: sefi atta
GENRE: fiction
Another coming-of-age debut novel, Everything Good Will Come details the life of a young girl, Enitan, as she matures into womanhood in a patriarchal society. Enitan grows up overly sheltered. Divided between her mother’s religiosity and her father’s manipulations, she’s never quite able to have a normal childhood.
But Enitan is nothing if not a rebel. Defying her mother, she makes friends with Sheri, a neighbour’s daughter, a relationship that will survive Enitan’s relocation to England for studies. Shortly after Enitan returns from England, a terrible incident pulls the two girls apart for many years. By the time they reunite, Sheri has become a wealthy Muslim man’s mistress, opting for this life above marriage, which she argues erases women’s individuality.
Enitan will learn about the truth of Sheri’s argument when she herself marries a man called Niyi. Though the relationship between Enitan and Niyi starts out full of love and comfort, things start to get complicated when Enitan refuses to submit her autonomy to Niyi.
In this book, Atta examines how women navigate the chains of a patriarchal society and find joy.
Cassava Republic Press is proud to announce the launch of their inaugural $20,000 Global Black Women’s Non-Fiction Manuscript Prize dedicated to exceptional works by Black women. Deadline: 30th June 2024. Learn more here.
blackass
AUTHOR: igoni barrett
GENRE: fiction
When Furo Wariboko wakes up one morning in Lagos to find that he has been transformed into a white man, his first instinct is to panic. Not knowing what has happened or why, he escapes from the house through the window to avoid his family. Once on the streets of Lagos, he realises how this mysterious transformation can change his life. Formerly jobless and luckless, Furo now finds doors opening for him where before they slammed shut on his face. He realizes that, as a white man in Nigeria, anything and everything is within his reach.
Reminiscent of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, Blackass explores a largely unaddressed phenomenon: the question of race relations in a non-settler former colonial state like Nigeria.
blessings
Author: chukwuebuka ibeh
Genre: fiction
Blessings is another debut coming-of-age novel set in Nigeria. It follows the life of Obiefuna, a teenage boy, as he discovers and explores his sexuality.
When Obiefuna’s father brings a village boy to live with the family, he never anticipated that his son Obiefuna would develop an intimate connection with the boy. But that is exactly what happens. Obiefuna and the boy engage in secret trysts within the house, both burning for each other, and it is all well and good until Obiefuna chances on them together one day.
Following this, he sends the boy back to the village and enrols Obiefuna in a boarding school where he hopes the boy will learn some discipline. Ironically, this move aimed to prevent Obiefuna from engaging his sexuality is exactly what sets him off on an exploration. In boarding school, Obiefuna fully comes into himself as a young gay man in Nigeria.
waiting for an angel
AUTHOR: helon habila
GENRE: fiction
Waiting for an Angel is Nigerian author Helon Habila’s 2003 debut collection of interlinked stories set during the military era in Nigeria.
The central character is Lomba, a young journalist whom we meet, at the book’s opening, in prison. Through the course of the stories, we learn that Lomba’s activities as a journalist and his work with the anti-military demonstrations are what have brought him to prison without trial. In the stories, Habila paint a vivid picture of life under military regime, highlighting the horrors and brutality of the military and the little ways citizens try to keep joy alive.
love does not win elections
authOR: ayisha osori
GENRE: non-fiction
In 2014, Nigerian lawyer and politician Ayisha Osori contested in the primaries for a seat in the National Assembly. She did not win, unfortunately; but the experience was edifying an enlightening.
Love Does Not Win Elections is her memoir of that experience. Filled with political intrigue, this book documents the experiences of a woman as she navigates the corrupt, male-dominated world of Nigerian politics. We follow Osori has she works towards her goal to secure a seat in the National Assembly, the alliances she has to form, decisions she has to make, and subtle (and not so subtle) misogyny she has to put up with. Though non-fiction, this book has all the elements of a good story and will certainly make for a great, illuminating film about Nigerian politics⎈