Sakiru Adebayo

Nigerian writer Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ took the literary world by storm with her debut novel Stay With Me in 2017. Six years later, she has followed up with an equally brilliant second novel, A Spell of Good Things, which has been longlisted for the Booker Prize 2023.

Just as with her first novel, A Spell of Good Things delves masterfully into the complexities of polygamy and problems with patriarchy while also exploring the corrosive effects of Nigeria’s political corruption on ordinary and, especially, poor Nigerians.

As someone who studies Nigerian literature, I hold the view that the strength of Adébáyọ’s second novel lies precisely in this exploration of the effects of the political on the personal in the Nigerian body politic. Even in places where the novel could benefit from some narrative concision, Adébáyọ still powerfully sustains readers’ attention by immersing them in the textures and cultures of western