Thank you to Cassava Republic and NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of An Unusual Grief in exchange for an honest review.

An Unusual Grief begins with a death. The protagonist, Mojisola, learns her daughter Yinka has died by suicide. She journeys from Cape Town to Yinka's apartment in Johannesburg and is left to collect what pieces she has left. This death comes after a period of separation between Yinka and her parents. Since this separation, or perhaps even earlier, she was something of an enigma to her mother, with a mind incomprehensible to her despite her deep yearning to "act as a mother" and shelter her daughter. By taking up in Yinka's apartment and uncovering what her life was before it wasn't, Mojisola tries to understand who her daugher was and why she is gone.

Omotoso's writing is poignant and distinct. As the title suggests, this novel felt unusual in its uniqueness. Mojisola's struggles with motherhood and grief are heavy yet Omotoso deals with this is a lyricism that tugs at the reader, The characters who once surrounded Yinka and come to revolve around Mojisola feel fully realized, particularly, Zelda, the pot smoking landlady and D-man, the BDSM-inclined businessman. Even her at first seemingly useless husband Titus has his own story to undercover. Yet, at the heart of this book is Mojisola and Yinka, one character we fully come to understand and another whose glaring absence is felt as much by the reader as it is by her mother. I really enjoyed this and look forward to reading more by Yewande Omotoso in the future.