I really liked this book, and would have given it a higher rating if not for a very casually described instance of child sexual abuse seemingly out of nowhere and that is never returned to again. I was so disgusted I considered DNFing but the rest of the book felt like such an important novel about the corruption of the Nigerian prison and justice system and it’s treatment of its women (and some men) that I powered through.

I thought the storytelling and narrative were very original, I enjoyed that the inmates stories were told in several forms: spoken word, written in letters to family, described in the thoughts of other characters and so on. I found the ending a bit abrupt but overall I think it was definitely worth reading, I just wish that one scene was either not included or was acknowledged to be wrong somehow, I feel like I would have been satisfied if the perpetrator was caught by the other inmates and beaten and shunned for the act or something along those lines, or if she had felt remorse later for it at least.

It is a very heavy book that probably should carry trigger warnings for everything you can think of, notably rape, murder, child sexual assault, child death, child brides, domestic violence, gore etc.

Thank you to NetGalley and Iskanchi Press for the early copy of this book.

A harrowing tale about a Nigerian prison and the women in it. The author did a great job telling the story of a derelict prison without much funding and the women who run it and are in it. From the Prison's warden who has to grapple being unmarried in her forties to the women in the prison who are there for a myriad of reasons this was a sobering read.

The author tried to write in the voice of the prisoners which made some parts difficult to read because of the flow, but overall it was a necessary read.