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Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions
Cover of Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions
Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions
A Novel in Interlocking Stories
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"I couldn't put this book down and I loved spending time in the lives of Nonso, Remi, Aisha, and Solape. Truly this book will grab hold of your heart and mind and everything in between."—Roxane Gay, author of Hunger and Bad Feminist

?"Poignant and beautiful. . . . Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi will sweep you away with these subtle yet profound stories. She is a bold and elegant writer, and this debut is such a pleasure."—Edan Lepucki, author of Woman No. 17 and California

Nigerian author Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi makes her American debut with this dazzling novel which explores her homeland's past, present, and possible future through the interconnected stories of four fearless globe-trotting women.

Moving between Nigeria and America, Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions is a window into the world of accomplished Nigerian women, illuminating the challenges they face and the risks they take to control their destinies.

Students at an all-girls boarding school, Nonso, Remi, Aisha, and Solape forge an unbreakable sisterhood that is tempered during a school rebellion, an uprising with repercussions that will forever reverberate through their lives. The children of well-to-do families, these young women have been raised with a thirst for independence, believing a university education is their right—a legacy of ambition and hope inherited from their foremothers.

Leaving school and adolescence behind, the women grapple with the unexpected possibilities—and limitations—of adulthood and the uncertainties of the world within and outside of Nigeria. A trip to Ghana opens Nonso's eyes to the lasting impact of the transatlantic slave trade, she falls in love with an African American, and makes a new home in the United States. Remi meets Segun, a dynamic man of Nigerian descent from Yonkers whose own traumatic struggles and support gives her the strength to confront painful family wounds. Aisha's overwhelming sense of guilt haunts her, influencing career and relationship decisions until she sees a chance to save her son's life and, through her sacrifice, redefine her own.

Revolving around loss, belonging, family, friendship, alienation, and silence, Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions is a moving, multifaceted portrait of lives shaped by hope and sorrow—of women who must contend with the ever-present and unsettling notion that moving forward in time isn't necessarily progress.

"I truly loved this linked short story collection. The narrative takes us into the intimate workings of friends and families. Omolola explores their complex lives in astoundingly beautiful language. If, like me, you enjoy stories that take you out of your reading chair to worlds that follow you back to your own, then this is the book for you."—Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa, award-winning author of A Woman of Endurance

"I couldn't put this book down and I loved spending time in the lives of Nonso, Remi, Aisha, and Solape. Truly this book will grab hold of your heart and mind and everything in between."—Roxane Gay, author of Hunger and Bad Feminist

?"Poignant and beautiful. . . . Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi will sweep you away with these subtle yet profound stories. She is a bold and elegant writer, and this debut is such a pleasure."—Edan Lepucki, author of Woman No. 17 and California

Nigerian author Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi makes her American debut with this dazzling novel which explores her homeland's past, present, and possible future through the interconnected stories of four fearless globe-trotting women.

Moving between Nigeria and America, Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions is a window into the world of accomplished Nigerian women, illuminating the challenges they face and the risks they take to control their destinies.

Students at an all-girls boarding school, Nonso, Remi, Aisha, and Solape forge an unbreakable sisterhood that is tempered during a school rebellion, an uprising with repercussions that will forever reverberate through their lives. The children of well-to-do families, these young women have been raised with a thirst for independence, believing a university education is their right—a legacy of ambition and hope inherited from their foremothers.

Leaving school and adolescence behind, the women grapple with the unexpected possibilities—and limitations—of adulthood and the uncertainties of the world within and outside of Nigeria. A trip to Ghana opens Nonso's eyes to the lasting impact of the transatlantic slave trade, she falls in love with an African American, and makes a new home in the United States. Remi meets Segun, a dynamic man of Nigerian descent from Yonkers whose own traumatic struggles and support gives her the strength to confront painful family wounds. Aisha's overwhelming sense of guilt haunts her, influencing career and relationship decisions until she sees a chance to save her son's life and, through her sacrifice, redefine her own.

Revolving around loss, belonging, family, friendship, alienation, and silence, Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions is a moving, multifaceted portrait of lives shaped by hope and sorrow—of women who must contend with the ever-present and unsettling notion that moving forward in time isn't necessarily progress.

"I truly loved this linked short story collection. The narrative takes us into the intimate workings of friends and families. Omolola explores their complex lives in astoundingly beautiful language. If, like me, you enjoy stories that take you out of your reading chair to worlds that follow you back to your own, then this is the book for you."—Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa, award-winning author of A Woman of Endurance

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About the Author-
  • Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi was born and raised in Ibadan, Nigeria. A finalist for the 2009 PEN/Studzinski Literary Award, her stories and poetry have appeared in New Writing from Africa 2009, Ploughshares, The Massachusetts Review, the Indiana Review, Wasafiri, Dance the Guns to Silence: 100 Poems for Ken Saro-Wiwa, and The American Poetry Review. She graduated from Barnard and UPenn with bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in computer science. Omolola is a professor of preventive and social medicine at Charles R. Drew Univer- sity of Medicine and Science in South Los Angeles, where she teaches and conducts research on using biomedical informatics to reduce health disparities. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband.

Reviews-
  • Publisher's Weekly

    August 22, 2022
    Nigerian writer Ogunyemi debuts with a dynamic novel in stories featuring four women and their lost illusions. Schoolmates Nonso, Remi, Aisha, and Solape become close friends at a Nigerian boarding school in the 1980s, where, in the title story, the girls are consumed with “spite-filled delight” while protesting the school’s contentious principal for firing several beloved teachers. Their revolt, while personally liberating and unifying, ends tragically. The stories that follow explore their professional success and interpersonal betrayal. “Reflections from the Hood of a Car” picks up with Remi’s former lover, now living in the Bronx in 1991. In “Last Stop, Jibowu,” set in 2005, Nonso lives in Brooklyn and works as an investment banker, while the short “Area Boy Rescue” dictates the daily trials of Nonso’s housekeeper. The ambitious closer, “Messenger RNA,” set in 2050, imagines a 78-year-old Aisha savoring a “nice, comfortable silence” and the company of her granddaughter. Through the many leaps in time and views from supporting characters, Ogunyemi succeeds at showing how each of the four women’s lives were shaped by their fiery youth. These richly developed stories are resonant and rewarding.

  • Library Journal

    Starred review from March 1, 2023

    Nigerian short-story writer and poet Ogunyemi debuts with a superlative collection of interconnected stories. The first begins in 1890s Nigeria, focusing on four young women--Nonso, Remi, Aisha, and Solape. They protest an unreasonable school headmistress, and this leads to a tragedy among their ranks. As viewpoints and time constantly shift, narrator Liz Femi impeccably conveys each girl (and later, woman). Narrator Korey Jackson appears briefly, but Femi takes center stage. Richly rendered details of cities, villages, friendships, and family relationships will keep listeners engaged. Particularly irresistible are glimpses of life in Nigeria. A passenger on a crowded jitney leads everyone (including a chicken) in prayer; after witnessing his mother being beaten by a brutal police officer, an eight-year-old boy leaves the family car and bites the unsuspecting man on the leg. The women continue to influence each other as they travel the world. In the final story, set in a dystopian 2050 United States, the women are elders, swept up in a finale that is as disturbing as it is credible. VERDICT Superb narration enhances Ogunyemi's extraordinary writing, with atmospheric Nigeria and its language making this audio a must-listen.--Susan G. Baird

    Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions
Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions
A Novel in Interlocking Stories
Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi
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