A Kind of Madness
by Uche Okonkwo
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Pub Date 28 Jan 2025 | Archive Date 10 Aug 2024
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Description
**An Oprah Daily Most Anticipated Book of 2024**
A searing, unflinching collection of stories set in Nigeria that explores community expectations, familial strife and the struggle for survival.
A one-eyed chicken, a chimpanzee forgotten in a cage, babies with hydra heads squished into pulp. Everyday madness and monsters are explored against the backdrop of an indifferent Lagos in Uche Okonkwo's dynamic debut collection.
Across ten evocative stories, A Kind of Madness dips in and out of the lives of Nigerians, unravelling the tensions between mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, best friends, siblings and more. Brimming with vitality, these bites of mundane madness mark the arrival of an extraordinary new talent in fiction and will leave you hungering for more.
Advance Praise
'Steady-handed and gut-punching. I'm in awe of this mad collection, this necessary writer' - NoViolet Bulawayo, author of Glory
'Uche Okonkwo's voice is absorbing. I was immersed in the familiar world of these tender, playfully haunting, darkly funny stories. Okonkwo is a writer to watch' - Chinelo Okparanta, author of Under the Udala Trees
'To read A Kind of Madness is to have an experience: of complex characters grappling with life's many troubles, of a robust culture, of history, of the battle between the domestic and the public, and all the big themes of life woven together. Like Jhumpa Lahiri, Okonkwo's mastery of the form is as rich as some of the short story's best practitioners and deserves every recognition it is sure to get' - Chigozie Obioma, author of An Orchestra of Minorities
'Touched my heart. Uche Okonkwo's stories are among the very best' - Sidik Fofana, author of Stories from the Tenants Downstairs
'Hilarious and heartbreaking... A delightful debut' - Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, author of A Girl is a Body of Water
'Okonkwo has a Chekhovian eye for the tangle of internal motivations and assumptions that steer her characters... Readers will be eager for more of Okonkwo's artful writing' - Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
'Surprising, illuminating, and deeply human' - Booklist
'Vivid... Striking a perfect balance between humour and heartbreak, A Kind of Madness shows incredible wisdom on the complexity and at times maddening nature of loving our family, our friends, and our home' - Chicago Review of Books
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9780857309013 |
| PRICE | £12.99 (GBP) |
| PAGES | 224 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Reviewer 1394760
A Kind of Madness is a collection of 10 stories set in modern Nigeria.
I have read only a handful of Nigerian literature, and I am in awe every time I read a book about the culture(s) in Nigeria.
Okonkwo tells the stories of children and adults who experience many emotions and struggles of being a human.
Prose is excellent, and the stories are richly different from each other.
Reviewer 1459410
A collection of short stories in a patchwork of Lagos; stitched together with a staccato of emotions - high, low, resigned. From an account of a marriage arrangement to a fledging preacher's (my personal favourite of the bunch) contrasted inner life and outer reality. These are vivid stories that run the gamut of human experiences. A truly enveloping read
Francesca K, Bookseller
Sometimes with short story collections the various plot lines can begin to feel either repetitive or jarring. However, 'A Kind of Madness' does not fall into either extreme. Each story is deeply engaging, all of the various characters feel developed, and each narrative is unique. It is a brilliant collection of tales about family, friendships, and what it means to be human in contemporary Nigeria.
Aki J, Reviewer
A brilliant collection of short stories that leave you guessing right to the last page. Each character has a level of depth and evolution not easy to portray in so few pages but each story leaves you with plenty of food for thought and definitely wanting more!
Abbie W, Reviewer
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my digital ARC!
I’m always down for a good short story collection, and while I wasn’t blown away by this debut collection, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it. It’s a very solid collection, all the stories fit nicely together. They’re all slice-of-life, exploring various relationships and dynamics across contemporary Nigeria. We see mothers trying to marry off daughters, nephews trying to mend an auntie’s broken heart, young boys doing all they can to survive on the streets, little girls engaged in the usual tumult that is tween friendships. Corruption within the church, mental health, classism, reflections on these themes and more can be found in these pages. They’re all very much character driven, as Okonkwo peels back the layers of Nigerian society to lay bare the madness that resides there. That title really is perfect!
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