Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2023
Ayòbámi Adébáyò’s A Spell of Good Things is the story of two families caught in the riptides of wealth, power, romantic obsession and political corruption in Nigeria.
Eniola is tall for his age, a boy who looks like a man. His father has lost his job, so Eniola spends his days running errands for the local tailor, collecting newspapers and begging, dreaming of a big future. Wuraola is a golden girl, the perfect child of a wealthy family, but also an exhausted young doctor in her first year of practice. She is loved by Kunle, the volatile son of family friends. When a local politician takes an interest in Eniola and sudden violence shatters a family party, Wuraola and Eniola’s lives become intertwined.
Ayòbámi Adébáyò’s breathtaking novel, A Spell of Good Things, shines a light on the haves and have-nots of Nigeria, and the shared humanity that lives in between.
‘A Spell of Good Things is an examination of class and desire in modern-day Nigeria. While Eniola’s poverty prevents him from getting the education he desperately wants, Wuraola finds that wealth is no barrier against life’s harsher realities. A powerful, staggering read.’ The Booker Prize 2023 judges
