This is a beautiful book about female friendships. The characters were so well developed and so lovely. Beautifully written

I love books about friendship that trace current day adulthood back to earlier days. A beautiful, vivid debut.

This was an interesting, quick read on old friends meeting after a while at a wedding and the complications that ensue. The book explores issues of political corruption, colorism and class in Nigeria, and it's very relatable to a reader from India-the issues are very similar. Part of the book is set during the student revolts in Nigeria in the late 70s, something I didn't know about at all, and which made for compelling reading. I'm always on the lookout for books that have unique narratives, and this one definitely fit that. THe ending was cliched and seemed forced, but I would still recommend this book, and will read anything else this writer publishes!

Tomi Obaro’s “Dele Weds Destiny” is a debut novel that follows the friendship of three friends - Zainab, Funmi and Enitan - in Nigeria. The book is an exploration of the three strands of their friendship that were braided together in an unexpected way, only to suddenly fray but never fully unravel. A friendship where a wedding invite is the key to a reunion after thirty years apart.

I relished in the author’s description of her 80s Nigeria, of course, always running to my mother to compare notes of her own experiences in her youth. At the university, one friend is very different from the other friend and the next friend. Each has a different personality, background, principles, wants and dreams, which makes their coming together as friends intriguing. I could not help gravitating to the depictions of their relationship, as disruptors defying expectations, of discovering love and family which each character had to navigate as they went through life. But each step forward also reveals a harsh and sometimes brutal reality that causes the reader to feel the full weight of their decisions and how they affect their futures. When it comes to these three ladies, I felt that I had a comprehensive view of their lives as young people in Nigeria; nothing was off limits.

But Obaro’s novel is about a wedding, right?

And thus, the source of my slight disappointment with this story is exposed. While I’ll try to keep my oath not to reveal any plots of a ‘spoilery’ nature, I must say that I do not think that enough time was dedicated to the characters and relationships in the present day. I wanted to know more about the dynamics between the mothers and their daughters, especially as they were just as different and distinct from each other as Funmi, Zainab and Enitan were presented to be.

We were teased to a second-generation diasporic view of Nigeria in Remi. A view that observes everything with a curious abandon, but through a lens that comes encoded with her own hard and fast values that at times run contrary to those of her mother and the culture that lends itself to her identity in part. Then there is the obedient, talented, apple-of-her-parents’ eye in Destiny. Although it can be argued that being able to discern this about these characters is already enough, I think the author could have offered us a lot more, especially with Destiny being a titular character.

That being said, when we return to the present day, Obaro expertly distracts us with meticulously placed decorations and beautiful aso-ebi, delicious food and infectious music that contributes to the grand affair that is Dele and Destiny’s wedding celebration, all while keeping us tethered to a brewing undercurrent of tension making us (or at least me) feel uneasy. It builds and builds until we get to the climax of the book.

Which is the last page. I honestly couldn’t believe the book ended where it did.

So here is where I must petition Obaro for a sequel. Who’s with me?

Overall, this book is for those who want to read about stories of friendship and self-discovery set against a backdrop of Tomi Obaro’s version of Nigeria.

“And even though the sun was setting, and the sky was a muted blaze of orange and pink obscured by Harmattan dust, she was too tired and hot and irritable to enjoy the view.”

easy, fun, funny. Almost certain I've seen a show just like it on netflix

I was lucky enough to get an early copy of this which was great fun.
Looking forward to more works by this author..

I really am enjoying the exploration of culture, the differences and similarities and the merging of them in literature at the moment

Great read, I enjoyed the audiobook version and the narrators were great.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy in exchange for my honest feedback.

This was a great read - super easy and flowed so nicely. I raced through it which is always a good sign!

Tomi weds Destiny centers on friendship. Female friendship, and it’s such a refreshing change for me. The book left me with such a warm feeling. I loved exploring the friendship between Funmi, Enitan, and Zainab.. Somewhere in the introduction lies a perfect description of this relationship, “ These three women are essentially sisters, though Funmi would chafe at the sickly sweetness of such a term. Their love has the makings of an ancient habit; it is automatic and unyielding.”

I also loved the description of Nigerian cities and towns. Our food and people too. No one could have captured the essence of Nigerian weddings better than Tomi Obaro did. It’s such a vivid picture that I don’t even need to close my eyes to see it.

DELE WEDS DESTINY follows best friends Funmi, Enitan and Zainab as they reunite in Lagos, Nigeria after many years apart to celebrate the wedding of Funmi’s daughter, Destiny. If you love multigenerational novels that explore a culture through the highs and lows of friendship, motherhood and marriage then this is a book for you.

Told from each of the friend's POVs with timelines in both the present and past, I really enjoyed that we get to read all sides of their friendship. I was drawn into their lives through the secrets, disputes, envy to how they communicated and their bonds of trust. Each character brought unique dimensions to the story. I was particularly drawn to Funmi who was complex yet flawed, she suffered in different ways but had a strength that reflected in various ways throughout her life and shaped the way she mothered. Both Destiny and Remi (Enitan’s daughter) and the men that were in the MC’s lives introduced us to the generational impacts and cultural obligations of womanhood.

The depiction of Nigeria through its political tension, relationship structures, tradition and culture was really nicely balanced and appreciated. There are also some serious themes that were handled with grace, from death, grief, political violence and pregnancy choices. I would have liked the ending more if we were given an epilogue, as it is, the conclusion of the story left a bit to the imagination and a bit of closure and/or drama would have been nice (I say more drama 😂).

Dele Weds Destiny is the story of three best friends Enitan, Zainab and Funmi as they reunite in Lagos, after many years apart to celebrate the wedding of Funmi’s daughter, Destiny. Told from the point of view of each of the friends, it explores Nigerian culture, motherhood, marriage and friendship.

It started off really well jumping back and forth as it set the scene and introduced the stories of the friends and how they became friends and ended up where they are now. Unfortunately it slowed down half way through, during their University years and became a bit of a drag. Whilst I enjoyed learning about Nigerian culture, history and politics, I did was not particularly blown away by the novel. I found the characters a little stilted and both Remi and Destiny grated on my nerves for different reasons. Remi because she was so immature and preachy and Destiny because she lacked a backbone throughout most of the book. The rest of the characters were not endearing either, Zainab being the only one I had some empathy for. As for the ending, I think I saw it coming and can't say that it surprised me. However, I was not disappointed by it either, I am not a big fan of tidy endings..

All in all Dele Weds Destiny was an okay read, it's a good debut by Tomi Obaro who generally a good writer. I hope to see her mature and develop her talent further in future books.

I added Dele Weds Destiny to my #20booksofsummer22 reading list in the hope it would fill in the many gaps in my knowledge of Nigerian culture and way of life.

It did.

The narrative abounds with references to Nigerian food, clothing and the traditions that accompany weddings. There’s some fabulous detail about a practice called aso-ebi where all the guests make their wedding outfits including headdresses from the same fabric, one chosen by the couple.

Unfortunately while Tomi Obaro writes convincingly about her setting, this wasn’t enough to mitigate a rather uninspiring story line about three friends who are reunited for the first time in thirty years.

Reserved Zainab, beautiful and brash Funmi and homely Enitan were inseparable while at university in northern Nigeria. Then their lives diverged. Two remained in Nigeria where one married a wealthy businessman and the other married an academic whose failing health has left them struggling to make ends meet. The third moved to New York, eloped with the son of a family proud of their ancestral link with the Mayflower, and felt her identity slowly ebb away.

The trio reunite in Lagos for the wedding of junior doctors Dele and Funmi’s daughter, Destiny. Though the pair are represented in the book title, they’re both fringe characters, supporting players to the story of the three friends. The title Dele Weds Destiny is thus a strange choice — the book isn’t really about the soon-to-be-wed couple nor the actual ceremony. It’s more a novel about friendship.

Dele Weds Destiny starts with a very short section depicting the day Zainab, Funmi and Enitan graduate from university. Then it quickly moves into 2015 as the trio come together for the wedding and Funmi gets stressed by the lavish preparations for her daughter’s big day. Destiny’s lack of enthusiasm for the preparations is evident but Funmi is so determined that nothing will put a spanner in the works she steams ahead regardless.

After this introduction to the main characters, the middle section of the novel winds back to the 1980s to reveal the exciting student unrestand the difficulties they’ve faced during the intervening thirty years.

This book takes a long time to get going and there’s a heavy reliance on “telling” us about the differing characters and experiences of the three women. Funmi, has everything that money and status can buy but her life has no meaning. Enitan, the most intelligent of the trio incurred her family’s wrath by marrying an American Peace Corps volunteer who taught at her university. Now they’re in the process of a divorce. The final member of the trio, Zainab, is the only one who didn’t become a nurse and the only Muslim. As a writer she’s the most bookish of the gang, now acting as carer for her bed-ridden husband.

There’s some modest tension of the “will-she-or-won’t-she” kind over Destiny’s indifference to her forthcoming nuptials. But we’re denied the more interesting question of whether the friendship between the three women can survive because right at the beginning we’re assured that they will remain “steadfastly in each other’s lives.” Without that element of drama, I couldn’t see there was much of a purpose to the story. The idea for the book was sound, it was the execution that let it down for me.

I absolutely love African fiction so I was super excited to read Dele Weds Destiny and it lived up to every expectation I had.
Spanning thirty years this gorgeous book takes us on a journey with three women who were once inseperable friends. Life has taken them on their own paths and now they are reuniting for a big Nigerian wedding.

Funmi, Enitan and Zainab are completely different, they have all had their trials and tribulations in life but reuniting for Destiny's wedding, the Daughter of Funmi gives them the chance to reconnect.

A story of love and survival, of motherhood and hope I absolutely adored this book. The friendships between the three women are real and often messy but oh so endearing. I loved how deep and ingrained their friendship felt to all of them. This book covers sex and love, class and the strength of friendship. All three women are very resilient and this shines through. The writing is glorious. I was transported to Nigeria, and got a real sense of place. It's a beautiful story and encapsulates everything I love about African fiction.
Highly recommend this one! It's also perfect for this time of year.

A brilliant debut, so impressive! dele weds destiny defied my expectations (mostly because I, without reading anything about the book, assumed it would be about a wedding or someone called dele finding some sort of destiny - I was so wrong!) in the best way possible! Going into this book blind was brilliant, and made it such a page turner. I’m such a fan of the 3 part structure which goes between the present, past, and then ties everything back up in the present. Focusing on the wedding of Funmi’s daughter, Destiny, which is drawing ever nearer, we see Destiny becoming increasingly unsure on her hardly self-driven choice towards marriage. Throughout this dissolve, we follow the friendship of Funmi, Zainab and Enitan, from their days at university to the present, through relationships and marriages, both successful and unsuccessful. The three are immensely strong female characters of such different ilk - undoubtedly one of them will become someone to resonate with for the reader. I personally find myself aligning with Zainab throughout, but all three are so rich and interesting to hear about, and their perspectives. I’ve never read any Nigerian fiction before, but this certainly won’t be my last time - Obaro writes about the country and it’s history really thoroughly and their lax, friendly writing style which evolves and natures with the three main characters is so readable. The female friendships in this book were so realistic, and exist so cross-culturally, which for me was the most fascinating part to read about; secrets and love bringing this group ever closer, no matter what stage of life they are in. If you enjoy family dynamics, strong friendships and a subtle but interesting political backdrop, Dele Weds Destiny is the book for you!

I learnt so much by reading Dele Weds Destiny by Tomi Obaro!! Food, politics, hair styles, and of course the gorgeous Nigerian wedding at the end.

There were many passages about relationships and friendship, as well as some reflexions about motherhood and mental health, although I wish there had been more mother-daughter moments.

Some characters were more fleshed out than others, but overall it was an engrossing read. The dialogues were really funny, other passages quite moving.

I think the title is a bit misleading because Dele and Destiny are not really main characters. Some reviewers complained about the abrupt ending, but I didn't dislike it. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

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Del Weds Destiny - Tomi Obaro

Del Weds Destiny centres around a wedding in Nigeria, for which old friends Funmi, Zainab and Enitan come together to celebrate. Funmi's daughter is getting married, so Enitan travels over from America with her daughter Remi and Zainab travels from her own partner to be at the wedding. As we progress through the plans we get to know more about the women's past life and about Nigeria. For the second part of the book we go back in time to experience the women's time at university when they met. We also examine how events during their university days shaped who they are today.

Although I enjoyed the book I was definitely left wanting more explanation and more depth for each character. I enjoyed the descriptions of Nigeria and felt transported here but I can't say I particularly fell in love with the characters. This wasn't because they weren't likeable but I feel I wasn't able to get to know them well enough. I wanted to know more about Remis political views and how they differ from Nigeria. I also wanted to hear more about Destiny, Funmi's daughter and bride to be.

Although I wanted more I would still recommend the book. It was an interesting read into a different culture and tradition.

Three Nigerian women who met at college are reunited many years later for the wedding of one of their daughters. We flip between the past and present, learning of their friendship, loves and families.
I really enjoyed this compelling story - it’s well written, vivid, evocative and full of strong, interesting female characters.
A good read!
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. All views are my own.

Dele weds destiny’ by Tomi Obaro

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4.5 out of 5 stars)

Is there anything better than coming across a wonderful debut novel ? That is exactly what this book is .

The timeline jumps from current time to past and back to current time . This normally frustrates me and is a massive pet peeve but in this book it just adds to the wonderful story.

I really love a strong female character and In this book I got 3! This is the story of three once-inseparable college friends in Nigeria who reunite in Lagos for the first time in thirty years.
I don’t want to give any spoilers away but this book explores so many themes that I found myself completely immersed in their world and the world of their daughters.
The vivid descriptions and easy to read writing styles were a complete delight.

The only slight issue I have with the story is that I wanted more . I wanted a resolution and hate it when a book is left without everything being resolved.

I experienced this book on kindle , audiobook and written book but found all of the versions were equally as compelling and would highly recommend the book on any of the three platforms .

This is a beautiful slow burn story , the perfect summer read. Even though it explores some quite dark themes in the plot you will find yourself completely unable to put the book down !
This is a book I feel certain I will reread many times in the future, and I feel with each reread there are bound to be new things I discover each time.

Dele weds Destiny is a fascinating and richly detailed story of female friendship in Nigeria. I do love books about friendship, because I think they are some of the most important relationships in our lives and I’m glad there have been more books about this recently. It’s also great to read one set in a culture that I don’t know much about. The wedding scene in particular was so evocative and brilliantly written and made me feel like I was in a room with all of these people.
I do feel like it took a long time into the book before I actually learnt much about the three women - I understood very little about them until I learnt about their time at university, and the student uprisings that had such tragic consequences. But other than this I think it’s a very moving and interesting book.

I love the way it weaves together female friendships over the years and surviving one woman's elopement to America from her home in Nigeria. And although there are a few familiar tropes in here (woman enjoying her riches married to slightly dodgy man with a violent edge who gets his money from who knows where; dual-heritage New Yorker stalking around Nigeria with her gender studies and social justice head on, getting into arguments with everyone) there's a good amount of diversity here, too - one woman is Muslim, the other two Christian, one remaining in Nigeria is struggling, the other is successful, and the two daughters are contrasted interestingly.

We meet the girls, loud, confident Funmi, beautiful literary Zainab and Enitan, used to being the plain one, who ends up travelling furthest, at their graduation ceremony and then again as Zainab and Enitan travel to the wedding of Funmi's daughter, the quiet and increasingly disappearing Destiny. Then we have a long section back in the 80s in their past, with a lot of powerful description of what it's like to be young women at university in Nigeria, including a fairly graphic abortion scene, before we come back to the wedding, which has plenty of (maybe too much) detail but also the continuation of the narrative arc.

In fact, Dele marrying Destiny is the least of the plot lines really, and we're pretty sure we know what's going to happen there. The friendship is the thing, and the three women trying to support each other. It's nicely told with lots of great details, for example, Enitan goes from sending her friends back home letters to them having a WhatsApp group that Funmi spams with religious content. Something I really liked about this (and I know a reader who will like this, too!) was that there's no concession made to explaining Nigerian (mainly clothing and food, but some for types of people) terms. I knew a few of them (thank you, "Zinka, where is your Huzband" and looked others up or just assumed they were a foodstuff, etc., but it was good to see this lack of pandering to a non-Nigerian-heritage audience who didn't want to look things up, retaining the people who want to read themselves in a book without jumping out into explanations and non-Nigerian heritage readers who are happy looking things up.

So a good debut and I'd definitely read more by this author.

My full review here https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2022/06/30/book-review-tomi-obaro-dele-weds-destiny/

Dele Weds Destiny by Tomi Obaro was described as a novel of friendship, love and home and is a really impressive and immersive debut novel. The basis of the book is the decades long friendship of three women, Fumi, Enitan and Zainab , who first meet at university in Nigeria and are now reuniting for the wedding of Fumi's daughter Destiny. The book moves between the current day, the immediate run up to the wedding ceremonies and the past, while the three were students and just after. Each of the three women have had very different lives but no matter the distance between them they have held on to the friendship that first united them. Zainab fell in love with an older professor and married him, a happy marriage with four sons, but as his health has failed she has devoted her life to caring for him. Fumi is the wife of a shady but enormously wealthy business man, living in a secure compound with household servants to cater to her every whim, and she is caught up in the preparations for Destiny's wedding , no expense is to much, nothing is too lavish or too extreme. Enitan left the others behind years ago to elope with a white man and move to America, and is now returning to her homeland with her daughter Remi , a daughter she sometimes struggles to understand. Seeing these women come to life on the page, I could almost feel the depth of their friendships, the highs and lows. We first meet the women in the current day , but it is the chapters set in the past that really illustrated the forces that shaped and changed their relationships with one another, from personal tragedy to issues involving society as a whole. It was beautiful and powerful to see a book where women uplifted and helped each other no matter what. I also liked seeing how the echoes of these women were visible in their daughters, something that was most obvious in the last section of the book. This book took me away to another time and place and made me really care about the women I was reading about, a rare and impressive feat for a debut author.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.