This book was an inspiring, heartbreaking and heartwarming book all at the same time. It truly warms the readers heart and throws them into the pages, as they read along they find strength in these women and is a source of hope for many.

I enjoyed this book and liked the ending. I couldn't really distinguish between the 'voices' of the twins or even the 2 boys so maybe 4 narratives was a bit 'much'. All the chapters were in first person except for one and I am not sure why that was so? Very, very confusing!!

Set initially in 1996 Lagos, this title is told from four siblings’ perspectives; each one expressing their search for agency, love, and meaning in a hypocritical society. I think, at its core, this is a tale of postcolonial feminism spanning two decades. Although their brothers feature, this is a novel predominantly about two women coming of age and devising their own distinct paths to independence, against the constraints of systemic misogyny and childhood trauma. Though Nigerian women are by no means alone in their fight against patriarchy, if you have seen any #WeAreTired headlines recently, then this title will do a good job at providing some deeper understanding around the topic.

One evening, four siblings; Bibike; Ariyike; Peter and Andrew, learn that their mother (the sole provider of the family) has been made redundant due to political changes where she works. With poverty drawing near, the family is seduced by the New Church, an institution led by a charismatic pastor who engages their father in a unique business opportunity. Their father, however, is a wife beater, who perpetually squanders their money on ridiculous investments. Soon their mother abandons them, followed quickly by their father. Now raised by their ailing grandmother, each child – particularly the girls Bibike and Ariyike – must do what they can to survive, even if that means going against everything they believe in. Ariyike uses the church to gain power, while Bibike swears off religion and pursues a career in the beauty industry.

There's no doubt that this book deals with some very complex themes, including abandonment and poverty, that are all deftly contextualised through references to Nigerian culture. I would recommend, however, that any survivors of sexual assault proceed with caution with this title; its rape scenes are not for the faint hearted. The discomfort I felt whilst reading certain passages was somewhat jarring and acted as a stark reminder of what can happen when certain behaviours are perpetually excused. Indeed, in this male-dominated world, beset by both political and moral corruption, Bibike and Ariyike must find their own way to freedom, rising above their childhood trauma. Interestingly, religion seems to be a pervasive theme throughout this narrative, consistently prodding the hypocrisy of the church. Why are womxn expected to be dutiful servants to the lord, while men are seemingly forgiven for the most abhorrent of acts? Why, while people are suffering, do so many turn away from those in need? While this makes for an often depressing tale, Abraham's prose juxtaposes the darkness eg. “if beauty was a gift, it was not a gift to me, I could not eat my own beauty, I could not improve my life by beauty alone.‘ Beautiful sentences like this, make Black Sunday both observant and lyrical.

I have to admit, however, that I have never really been a multiple POV (point of view) fan. I can just about deal with two, but four pushed me to my absolute limit. The episodic nature of the POVs didn't quite hang together enough for me and I got fed up with being jolted from character to character. None of the loose ends were tied up in a way that was satisfactory and I could not connect to the two young boys at all. Of course, I am very biased. I am neither a male nor Nigerian, but I did feel like this book might have benefitted from sticking purely to Bibike and Ariyike's narratives. These girls were far more engaging and I thought that “sisterhood, fate and female resistance” were meant to be the hooks of the entire title anyway. The theme of female empowerment itself, however, didn't become clear to me until I was almost finished reading. Admittedly, I could not always stomach the violence that arose throughout the title. I am aware, however, that this is ignorant for me to say and I appreciate that these events are a very harsh reality for many, but you have to be in a certain mindset to really digest the many important lessons this book has to offer.

Of course, misogyny is not something that is unique to Nigeria and (I hasten to add) not all men are scoundrels, but this title certainly captures the role it appears to play in Nigerian culture. As Abraham herself says, all of these characters are products of their society. The men in this title get away with what others allow them to get away with and people can only do the best they can when trying to escape poverty. Through Ariyike and Bibike, however, Black Sunday explores the question of what makes womxn sufferers, then participants and perpetrators of this patriarchy and in what way (if any) does religion facilitate this. While this was quite an uncomfortable read to sink my teeth into during a pandemic, it was a thought-provoking one nonetheless.

A story that takes us into a different culture in Nigeria. Identical twins take different paths in life after circumstances break up their family, one into modern life and the other into Yoruba tradition.

It's an interesting concept and the language and structure suggests translation from a West African language, but after the first few paragraphs it settles into present tense.

Oh.

Despite this, I was able to read it in small snippets and follow the story of the twins and their separate lives. The chapters change pov among four siblings so you get the contrast of events that leave them in the care of their Yoruba grandmother. There are some disturbing realities of what it's like to be poor and female in a third world culture.

Overall I found the story interesting, but depressing. The present tense writing makes it feel like someone telling a story in a monotone, but with enough horror of events, including sexual assault, that you can't help but listen.

Identical twins Bibike and Ariyike grow up in Lagos, Nigeria in the 1990s. The story follows their close relationship, upbringing and the choices they later make as young adults. The twins take very different steps into adulthood; one marrying a pastor and becoming a known face preaching on tv, the other becoming an unmarried mother, staying with her beloved grandmother. These choices slowly disintergrate the girls closeness, their sense of being 'one' with their twin. Neither has an easy path, wether as a wealthy woman in a perceived position of power and luxury or as a mother struggling to earn enough money to feed her children.
This is an incredibly believable and powerful story about love, family and corruption.

"I think everything is a story unless you live in it. I like the idea of a god who knows what it's like to be a twin. To have no memory of ever being alone... To know you were born with everything you will ever need for love but be afraid that this one person is too important."

Whilst growing up in 1990s Lagos in a fairly comfortable life, twin sisters Bibike and Ariyike are unaware of how much their life is about to change. When their mother loses her job followed by their father being scammed into gambling the house away, their mother leaves the family home suddenly and moves to America. Their father then takes the twins and their younger brothers Peter and Andrew to live with their traditional and religious Yoruba grandmother. One day he leaves to find work and never returns, leaving the children more or less having to fend for themselves, living with their grandmother who doesn't particularly want them there.

Each chapter is told from the perspective of a different sibling and shows the effect their early upbringing has on them as they try to forge their own way in life as adults. Black Sunday is a stunning debut novel about the intricacies of family life and the different lives the children lead, especially the twins who eventually become complete opposites of each other; one becoming religious and the other embracing modernity. Despite these different paths, both women still find themselves oppressed and fighting for independence. Black Sunday is so beautifully written, I found myself lost in the book and raced through it almost in one whole sitting.

Thankyou for providing me with a copy of Black Sunday by Tola Rotimi Abraham. This is a beautifully written book but unfortunately I really struggled to engage with it. I suspect that it was perhaps the right book but the wrong time for me. It may be one of those books which I go back to when I am in a different mindset as I thought the imagery was stunning and am disappointed that I didn't love it as much as I thought I would.

Really great story; rich characters and a solid plot. Some structural issues that made it a little confusing, but overall a sound story

Thank you, Netgalley and Canongate Books for providing me with an ARC of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Black Sunday by Tola Rotimi Abraham is a West-African literary fiction set in Lagos. I requested this book primarily because of the cover. That cover drew me in, and once I read the synopsis I was intrigued by it. The story is told from the POVs of the 4 siblings who were left by their mother and then, later on by their father as well. They were entrusted to the care of a reluctant grandmother with whom they spent their life. The story is an up-close examination of the 4 individuals' lives, and how they grow up with abandonment, loss, poverty, and other struggles. There are several important social issues and difficult topics that are discussed through the siblings' experiences. All the uncomfortable topics that were laid bare in this book brings forward powerful commentary regarding exploitation, rape, sexual assault, misogyny, patriarchy, power-struggles, predatory men in power, and religious hypocrisy. I am still at a loss for words when it comes to this book. I don't know how to explain what this book is about comprehensively and I am still struggling when it comes to my feelings regarding this book. I gave the book 2.5 stars leaning towards 3 stars. This story leans heavily on the social elements to paint the narrative and the influence of societal expectations is well depicted. The raw and direct portrayal of the decline of a family and their social standing in the community blended with a powerful and unflinching commentary on the social issues makes it a distinct story worth checking it out.

Thanks to NetGalley and The Publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars, rounded down.

Black Sunday tells the story of four siblings from childhood to adulthood after they are abandoned by their parents due to changes in their fortune.

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book. There is some absolutely fantastic writing in this book, but the cold and dark nature of how the characters lives progress (especially the females characters) left a bitter taste in my mouth. However, the fact that the harsh realities of choices, the less privileged are faced with and what individuals are willing to endure to escape poverty and gain power were executed without cushioning, is what gives this book an edge of authenticity that can not be ignored.

I am looking forward to reading more works from Tola Rotimi Abraham

Set in the late 1990s in Lagos, Nigeria, this is the story of a family - a family broken by the contemporary situation; the mother struggles to keep a job due to the political situation, their father continually pursues unlikely opportunities, all with the end result that the four children find themselves detached and living in new circumstances.

Ariyike and Bibike are twin sisters whose lives initially similar, soon become very different; their brothers, Peter and Andrew are also affected by the situation.

This is a story touches on so many themes: family break up, the power of the patriarchy, the abuse of women, religion, abandonment, oppression... it contains a wealth of vivid characters. I enjoyed this, and I particularly liked the narrative structure which changes between the viewpoints of the four children.

"I think often of something my twin sister said once, about what happens to you when you grow up as deprived as we did. She said we got our brains locked in survival mode..." - Ariyeke

Black Sunday follows the journeys of twins, Ariyike and Bibike and their younger brothers Andrew and Peter in Lagos, Nigeria. Abandoned by their parents, they are sent to live with their grandmother. Told from each of their perspectives, we are narrated through different experiences they've had growing up. We get to see them mature in their thinking. We get to see them experience love, loss, hurt and uncertainty.

Littered with religious references, I felt comfortable reading this novel but Black Sunday does a good job making you feel uncomfortable with some of the encounters the characters have, especially the twins. Navigating puberty, teenhood and adulthood, the novel shares with us their tough realities without the guidance of their parents.

I love that the novel in set in Nigeria and has different points of view. But it was a very slow read. There were very few moments where I wanted to read on to know more. The narrative wasn't as smooth in parts either, but it is a very thought provoking. As we follow the family go from riches to rags, as this is definitely not a 'happy' story, at the end all I was left with is a feeling of indifference.

The author writes beautifully though and I would happily read more of their work!

TW: Sexual Assault

3/5

This book is not an easy, pleasant read and deals with traumatic events and issues.
It is centred on twin sisters and their brothers in Nigeria whose lives are fraught with betrayal, abandonment and hardship.
The story is told from the different POVs of the siblings and although that gives different insights into their experiences, for me the chapters are sometimes disjointed from each other and confusing.
The brutality and harshness of their lives is well depicted but I did not feel gripped by the story nor had a feeling of closure at the end.

Thanks to netGalley for the arc.

Black Sunday is essentially a coming of age novel following the formative years of four siblings, twin sisters Bibike and Ariyike and their younger brothers Andrew and Peter, as they grow up in Lagos, Nigeria. It details the hardships, and occasional lighter moments, that they go through as they navigate the people and situations that surround them.

One of the main themes of the book is betrayal and in so many, sometimes small, sometimes hugely significant ways, we see how these individual betrayals that the siblings go through shapes them into adulthood. So many topics are touched upon, family, feminism, the dominance of the church and abandonment to name but a few. It makes for an enlightening and thought-provoking read.

The structure of this relatively short novel takes some getting used to, it felt more like a series of interconnected short stories than a novel to be honest. But when you get used to that I found that it doesn’t affect the flow of the story.

Overall I found this to be a very good read and I’m definitely curious to read more from the author in the future - this is a very strong, very well written debut novel.

I feel like I am in a minority with this book in that I didn't love it. I found it to be a super interesting insight to life in Lagos over the period of time which included the childhood and early adulthood of our characters. I liked that it was told from different points of view through the time period, with each character describing their views. I do wish some of the stories were longer though, there were so many points I was disappointed to reach the end of the chapter without a final conclusion!
However, the stories are described wonderfully and I could vividly imagine the sights and smells within the book. It is a very well written book, just perhaps not my cup of tea!

These are the facts: religion, sex, power, and money are at the center of human existence. Our job, in order to exist in this world, is to find a way to marry all of these, otherwise what you're left with is a life of constant suffering.

This story centers on a family who faces tragedy and hardship over a lifetime, where each attempt to crawl out of their fate is met with yet another moment of human cruelty. Betrayals have become a fact of life for each member of this family at one point or another. We mainly follow the twin daughters, Bibike and Ariyike, who are forced to grow up much too early after their parents fail miserably at the one job required of them: parenting. In constant bargains with the only resource they own (their bodies), they are able to carve a tolerable existence for themselves and learn life's harshest lesson: we all make decisions based on our own selfish desires within that moment and we are forced to spend a lifetime with the consequences, good or bad.

This isn't an easy or pleasant book to read. There need to be content warnings for: rape (implied), abuse of power for sexual gain, blood, and forced abortion. However, the author manages to deliver her message in snippets that clearly shows the worst of humanity. Read at your own risk.

Before I give my review, a disclaimer that I'm not Nigerian (I'm Kenyan, but *barely* and have never experienced Africa aside from my grandfather's stories, so can't entirely speak about it!) so do seek out some Own Voices reviews after reading mine!

This was a tough book to get through, though not in a bad sense. It's filled with page after page of trauma and it's consequences. It's also filled with page after page of new ideas and the entry into the new millennium in a version of Lagos as seen through the eyes of a Nigerian family who aren't as well off as they hope to be. It deals with the loss of family, the creation of new families, the loss of innocence, the desire for change and opportunity in a place where opportunities are few and far between.

I really enjoyed the writing style, I thought the author gave a great exploration of the surroundings and atmosphere. I felt we got a decent insight into the individual characters and their lifestyles. That being said, I did think that the sisters (Bibike and Ariyike) got more individuality and independence than the brothers (Andrew and Peter), whose stories seemed to blur into one another very easily. The way the different narratives were pieced together didn't quite work for me. It felt like there were a lot of different snapshots over huge time jumps that connected very loosely but you had to work really hard to figure out how.

I think a little more fluidity when traversing the different characters and situations would have helped with the flow of the story. It also felt like the book could have used another 50 pages or so. There were a lot of themes that were really important and had great potential, but could have been wrapped up a little better in the end to give that sense of pure satisfaction that everything had been covered.

Though I did feel these things let the book down, I thought the stories following the kids as they grew up and gained independence were highly interesting and constantly thought-provoking. There are moments of anger where you think you'd absolutely never be able to justify what a character did, and then moments where you question that because surely you'd do the same in that situation. Definitely something to read if you want to really think about things philosophically!

Thank you to Tola Rotimi Abraham, Canongate Books and Netgalley for providing me with an e-copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Trigger Warnings: rape, sexual assault, sexual assault of a minor, mental illness, death, forced abortion, cheating, colourism, abuse of immigrants, parental neglect/abandonment.

Black Sunday is a powerhouse of postcolonial feminist literature and a devastatingly deft coming-of-age tale, set against the humid backdrop of Lagos, Nigeria, charting both the country and a family's evolution from 1996-2015. Tola Rotimi Abraham’s debut novel follows twin girls and their brothers through abject poverty, abandonment, and loss, as they lose everything but each other. Once their mother loses her job and their father makes a “bet” that leaves them penniless, all four siblings are sent to live with their Yoruba grandmother and must learn to navigate life without their parents. This novel explores kinship, patriarchy, misogyny, abuse, exploitation and making ends meet, love and loss, and what it means to be all alone even with siblings by your side.

Throughout the story, it becomes apparent that sometimes what is left unsaid is even more important than what is being discussed. Religion also plays a substantial part in the novel with each character having a different perspective on Christianity and Abraham discusses it in relation to feminism and postcolonialism and in particular in regard to African women. The interplay between all of these political, societal and personal issues the author addresses makes this a superb and deeply thought-provoking book with a well-constructed plot and characters that come alive on the pages as well as being nuanced and relatable yet have experienced unimaginable trauma. Many thanks to Canongate for an ARC.

This book was bitter sweet, as we followed the lives of a family of twin girls and their brothers Andrew and Peter in Lagos.

I say bitter sweet, as the characters were all built up with then narrating alternate chapters giving them an insight into their lives and they were for the most part likeable characters. But sadly their lives were hard.

Their mother abandoned them, then their father leaves them at their grandmother's and also leaves them. They are raised in poverty, malnutrition and have to mix with the .most corrupt elements of Lagos' society in order to make ends meet.

It was a fascinating and heart wrenching insight into this culture and the struggles they go through.

Black Sunday relates the stories of four siblings in modern day Lagos, after they are abandoned by their parents and must choose different paths to survival in adulthood.

This is a really intriguing novel and the author has a very original voice. She manages to create characters who are always sympathetic and interesting, but real. They are damaged and brittle and make good and bad choices. The Lagos setting with its combination of 21st century modernity and traditional culture, is very engaging. I