Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo is a absorbing and emotionally resonant novel that will captivate readers who crave stories about identity, family, and cultural heritage, particularly those who are interested in exploring the complexities of race, belonging, and self-discovery.

Sankofa was able to brilliantly take some more serious themes and make them an easy read. Onuzo wrote her story with compassion and empathy, and Anna's journey to find her history and the father she never knew ends up being a great, late coming of age story.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

Unfortunately, this was not for me. I was unable to get past the first few chapters. I believe this is just an issue of my taste not aligning with the story. I recommend others try it!

SANKOFA was a bit of a slow start but once we started uncovering the father's secrets, the more I was invested in the story. I deeply appreciate a novel featuring a middle-aged woman, though. More of this!

'Sankofa' is a beautiful book. It is well written and engaging. The story is unique a British half-African woman searching for her father. It is gripping!

3.5 Stars!

I found this interesting but it’s a little difficult to rate this. It’s a very sort of quiet and contained book that is very centered around a quiet and contained character, Anna Bain. I think I liked the story and the concept of the book, but I struggled with Anna as a vehicle for telling it, and I think in large part, my conflicted feelings about this book have to do with my conflicted feelings about Anna as a person and her very hypocritically Eurocentric perspective only occasionally relieved by flashes of self-awareness. I should also note that this perspective may be informed by a certain degree of defensiveness being myself African born and raised and having witnessed this hypercritical attitude applied in a hypocritical way myself, and also recognizing that it is craftily employed by the author here for this exact effect.

The premise is that Anna Bain has kind of been lost all her life- growing up biracial in racist England with a white mother and grandfather who lacked the cultural competence to navigate racial discourse, marrying into the most middle class Caucasian of British families, being a housewife and stay at home mom of a white-passing daughter she can’t quite connect with…. Anna has kind of floated through life without much ambition or sense of self. When her mother dies and she’s going through her things, she finds her father’s diary, and his identity is a shock to her. Thus, she embarks on a journey of discovery to find him in a small country in Africa.

Basically, in the simplest terms, this is a sort of story of self-discovery and finding one’s self and where one came from, a search for a parent and in that sense, belonging and identity. Being that Anna is a woman of a certain age, it’s almost in that lane of fiction featuring women who grace to a far off country and find themselves and a (younger) lover there. Do not be tantalized, there are no lovers in this book, more’s the pity. Anna feels herself an outsider in the UK but once she gets to Bamana, she is eminently British in her viewing of Africa. The author captured that sense of hypocritical scorn and superiority that European people often have for African coloniality. I think the author did a fabulous job in capturing perfectly the sensibility of someone viewing a country like Bamana with European eyes even when they’re desperate to belong. I understood and sympathized with Anna’s motivations but I also felt repelled by her attitude and approach. I didn’t disagree with Anna’s criticisms but I also couldn’t like her and the expectations she had on her African family to be what she expected and how she expected in a way that she never called on the family she had grown up with or married into. I think a good part of why I struggled with this book is because of my struggle with Anna.

Even though I enjoyed the entire book, I found the last third to be the most entertaining but also the most rushed and possessing the most Deus ex moments. Some of it was a little convenient (e.g. the resolution with her daughter) and the brief excursion into spirituality at the end seemed a bit at odds with the rest of the book. The role of art in Anna’s life was also thrown in at awkward moments but never really had much direction even though it was given significance at the end. Anna just seemed kind of feckless and sort of floating through life with judgey internal observations living in her head, and because we see the book through Anna’s eyes, it’s a little difficult for the book (especially the first 50% or so) not to seem a little floaty and not really grounded because it’s told through Anna’s sort of wishy-washy perspective.

I did like several things about the book. I both read (with my eyes) and listened to (read with my ears) this book and I found it captivating and easy to read and compelling enough that I wasn’t bored even in the slower early phases of the novel. The narrator of the audiobook Sara Powell, does a great job at reproducing Anna’s character perfectly… i think I read her as more benign before listening. In addition, I liked the premise and the writing and the overall story, even Anna’s observations if I take away the connotations of the messenger were insightful. I loved the conflict and the ethical questions this book made me ask myself to consider if I were a political leader or if I was a more idealistic version of myself judging myself, or how to trust and what is truth. I liked that this book was very emotionally contained- the themes of abandonment and loss and broken trust and isolation are heavy but because of how self-contained Anna is, this was not a particularly emotional book despite the high potential for emotional drama. In a sense, I’m passionate about books that make you feel wildly whereas because of Anna, this was almost dispassionate and very pragmatic in the storytelling and for that reason, also emotionally an easy-ish book to read. Nonetheless content warnings for eating disorders, infidelity, parental abandonment, racism should be noted.

Overall, I actually really liked this. I thought it was interesting and thought-provoking and well-written and eminently readable. Like the author’s previous book Welcome To Lagos, this kind of reveals the author’s innate skill for understanding human nature and creating imperfect characters who you feel quite strongly about. I think if Anna wasn’t so “Anna” and maybe a little more “Nana,” I would have rated this higher. But then if Anna wasn’t so “Anna,” this would be a totally different book and I might not feel the same way about it overall. I do recommend this and would definitely read more from this author.

I had the opportunity to read this via ebook and audiobook thanks to a complimentary ebook from Catapult (via NetGalley) and a complimentary audiobook from Libro.

“A sense of rightness, a sense of self. It was nothing when you had it. You hardly noticed. But once it was missing, it was like a sliver of fruit on a long sea voyage, the difference between bleeding gums and survival.”

SANKOFA is a striking and imaginative novel about identity, discrimination and privilege, and what it takes to bridge the divides within us. Anna, an artist, architect, and mother living in London, has recently lost her own mother and separated from her husband. While sorting through her Welsh mother’s things, she finds a journal written by the Black father she has never known. Captivated, she devours it, learning that he was not only a member of the radical left in the 1970s but afterward returned to his home country in West Africa (the fictionalized nation of Bamana), helped free the nation from colonization, and became its first prime minister - or, according to some, its dictator. Anna, whose white mother raised her mixed-race child by denying any difference between them, has struggled with a feeling of dislocation, the result of the discrepancy between her upbringing and her lived experiences. She decides to visit her father in Bamana, seeking connection, understanding, and ultimately, belonging. When she travels to Bamana, however, she is treated as an obroni - a foreigner, a white person - and she feels herself to be an outsider yet again. Anna is also increasingly confronted with some of the more controversial aspects of her father’s legacy and ongoing notoriety. As she gets to know her father and his family, the clash in perspectives is heightened, the resulting pain exacerbated by her desire to finally belong, the eventual affection all the more rewarding for it.

The premise of this story is improbable, almost fantastical, and executed convincingly with Onuzo’s frank prose. While the plot alone makes this book gripping, the exploration of the self, in connection with family, race, and nation, is what makes this book so powerful. The story digs into our different affiliations and their sway over us, post-colonialism and the messy work of nation-building, the strength and limits of familial loyalty, and the lengths we’ll go to in search of home. I liked the way Onuzo incorporated the trope of an (almost) divorced, middle-aged woman seeking an “exotic” experience to further her personal discovery and turned it on its head in some ways. There are so many compelling nuances teased out in these pages, written so artfully that the book feels both like an open wound and the beginnings of resolution. A masterful novel and one I would definitely recommend. Thanks to Catapult for the eARC!

Content warnings: racism, death of a parent, disordered eating, child abuse, imprisonment, violence, some fatphobic language

I very much enjoyed this story. It was wonderfully written. I look forward to the author’s next book!

Chibundu Onuzo takes me to unexpected places and pretty much always makes me glad to arrive there—even if "there" wasn't the destination I originally had in mind. I loved Sankofa the moment I began reading, and anticipated a book that would continue to offer me exactly what the first chapters did: sharp, articulate criticism of racism in 1970s London and a quieter reflection on relationships across time and culture. These elements remained throughout the book, but were gradually overtaken by a much more biting examination of life in post-colonial Africa.

Onuzo sets the later half of the book in the nation of Bamana, also referred to as the Diamond Coast. Bamana actually was an African state, established in the mid-17th Century and overthrown in the second half of the 19th Century. It was located in what is now the nation of Mali. This existence/nonexistence works well, allowing Onuzo to explore more recent African politics without the constraints of fitting into the history of a particular contemporary state.

The central character, Anna, is the daughter of a young British woman and an African father who boarded in her home while studying in Britain. Her father left at the end of a year of studies before her mother realized she was pregnant, and Anna's mother chose to raise her as a single parent. As the Black daughter of a white mother, Anna grew up aware of the way race shapes the way others perceive her, but her mother refused to acknowledge the role of race in any of Anna's experiences.

After her mother's death, Anna finds a journal that belonged to her father, written while he was in England, gradually becoming active in revolutionary circles. Her father, as he appears in this journal, is a thoughtful man, carrying the substantial weight of his identity and reflecting constantly on questions of identity, politics, and ethics.

After some research, Anna discovers that a) her father is still living and b) that he spent more than 30 years as the ruler of post-colonial Bamana, elected democratically, but becoming increasingly authoritarian. He may have been responsible for the deaths of student protestors. He brought wealth to parts of post-colonial Bamana, but that wealth was held within a limited number of individuals while the rest of the nation continued a "traditional" life—perhaps close to genuine tradition in more isolated areas, but that sort of poverty-as-tradition in more urban areas.

Yes, Anna travels to Bamana. Yes, she meets her father and many half siblings. Her relations with this family that is just meeting her are complicated, varied, and at times disturbing. This is the material that occupies the second half of the novel.

Because I had mapped out my own version of this story as I read the earlier parts, I was unsettled by its second half—but the reader gets to read what is written; it's the writer who does the writing. The story Onuzo has crafted is well worth reading. Traveling the path she carves out with her words was a voyage I hadn't anticipated that I found engaging.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

Anna Bain is a mixed race British woman who has never met her African father. When she finds his journal in her mother’s trunk, she decides to track him down. Is he the man from those pages? She travels to Segou Bamana in west Africa to find her father, but on the journey she may find herself as well.

This was a captivating story of finding one’s true self after years of feeling lost in the world. Sankofa means to go back and get it and the symbol for Sankofa in African culture is the image on the cover. It is a mythical bird flying forward with its head turned back.

Sara Powell did an amazing job narrating these characters. Her accents for multiple different characters both African and British were so well done. I found it soothing just to listen to her.

I recommend this one as a great listen for Black History month.

I absolutely loved this book, it is short but boy is it powerful and strong. Anna has recently lost her mother, separated from her husband, and her daughter is grown. She does not know much of anything about her father and decides this is a good time to learn more about him, which sets her on a journey that she was not expecting. She learns that he in fact was involved in radical politics in 1970s London, eventually becoming the president of a small nation in West Africa, and he is still alive.

What a story about learning your roots and finding yourself, no matter what age or where you are in life. I devoured this one, it was captivating and humorous at times. Being adopted I can relate to these types of stories but this one was like none I have read, and I highly encourage everyone to read it. The audiobook is fantastic as well, I listened to this in one sitting and could not stop until I was finished. I cannot recommend this one enough.

Thank you to @NetGalley @LibroFM and Catapult for the ALC and digital copy to review.

What a plot! So original! To look for your father and discover he is the leader of an African Country with questionable human rights incidents. It is also such an exploration of Anna finding her own strength and bravery as she sails into middle age.

This book was so beautifully written and quietly powerful. I know I’m going to be thinking about it for awhile!

After reading Onuzo's "Welcome to Lagos" I knew I couldn't wait to read more from her. Sankofa is a wonderful book, filled with rich setting and an on-point discussion of what it means to be half-Black in both America and Africa. Her characters are equally rich and I can't stop thinking about how alive they were. 10/10!

Anna just lost her mother and never knew her father. She's separated from her cheating husband, and her adult daughter is trying to talk her into divorcing him once and for all. Half Welsh and half African, she's never felt like she's belonged anywhere. She finds a diary amongst her mother's things and dives in, finally learning about the father she never knew. Soon, she's headed out to West Africa to meet the man she grew to love from his diary, and now she has to get to know the somewhat disappointing man he's become.

What. A. Ride. This was such a beautiful story and the list of things I loved is long. I loved that Anna first gets to learn about her father through his own words as he's radicalized in the United Kingdom as a young man. I love that, as a middle aged woman fresh off a break up, she takes the initiative to visit a country she's never been to in order to discover her roots. I love Anna's relationship with her daughter and the woman she is when she *finally* meets her father.

If this was on your radar already or you were thinking of picking it up, consider this your sign!

Read if... you loved Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing or Transcendent Kingdom.

4.5 stars, rounded up.

I really enjoyed this! In some ways, it reminded me of an aged-up version of Queenie, both of which center a main character who does not quite feel at home in England and is grappling with her family's roots in a former British colony. I definitely found the first half, when Anna was still in England, to be stronger than the faster-paced second half in Bamana, but I also loved the ending. Would highly recommend it, particularly on audio! Finally, thank you to Catapult for providing me with a free early e-copy, and sorry my review was so delayed!

3.5

I did a listen/read combination of Chibundu Onuzo’s novel, and I really enjoyed the audiobook narrator, Sara Powell. Her elocution was just how I would have read Anna’s character in the book. I think listening to the book and hearing the character’s voices really made the story come to life. I enjoyed entering the land of Bamana and learning the fictional history of the land. Anna's character arc from being melancholy to being a confident woman.

The ending felt rushed – I wanted more closure. There were several strings that were left hanging and we don't learn what becomes of several of the characters. I questioned Anna’s decisions and how she was so quick to forgive at the end of the book, but I do recognize this perhaps was to demonstrate the complicated relationship between children and parents – especially estranged ones.

My thanks to Netgalley, Catapult, Counterpoint Press and Soft Skull Press for the complimentary ARC of the audiobook and ebook. My opinions are my own.

3.5 stars!
Anna is searching for herself when she stumbles upon a diary belonging to her unknown father in her mother’s belongings. Recently separated from her husband and still coping with her mother’s death, she becomes immersed in her journey to understand who her father is.

Anna was a very real and flawed protagonist which made her likeable but frustrating at times. I struggled with her naivety (especially when she went abroad). I thought the diary portions were well written and kept me interested. I did find there were some pretty good pockets of tension as well but didn’t love the letdown on the tail end of those moments. I did find it a bit long with some lulls where I wasn’t really invested. I liked this one, didn’t love it!

An interesting premise - middle aged woman seeks mystery father and learns far more than she ever bargained for - and while the premise was enough to keep me reading, I never quite felt connected with our protagonist. As her husband points out, she's cold and unfeeling, which I felt as a reader as well. Sometimes that can work as a literary choice, but in this case it made me struggle to feel much for her as the main character at all. Dispassionate and distanced from everything she witnesses, it was difficult for me to truly get absorbed into the story when it felt as if she was floating about it all as well.

Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo
Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, OwnVoices
Pub Date: 5 Oct 2021
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞: After her mother passes and her husband cheats on her, Anna sets out on a pilgrimage to the African nation of Bamana to meet the father she never knew and discover who she really is, or perhaps, to reinvent herself completely.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝: A consuming story, easy to knock out a hundred pages and not even know it! I was rooted to my chair most of the weekend because I simply needed to go with Anna on this journey of self-discovery and processing loss, heartbreak and childhood trauma. I recently lost my mother too, so there were lots of moments where I just allowed myself to sit in a bit of grief alongside Anna and to remember wonderful moments I spent with her instead of the illness that took her from me far too soon.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐝: There were at times predictable plot points but the writing was so engrossing, and the story so emotionally intense, that I did not mind knowing where it was going. I just wanted to go there.

Read if you:
🏡Have lost a parent
🏡Want to be transported to another place and time
🏡Need perspective on race and gender in the UK
🏡Are processing some deep hurts, childhood traumas and/or divorce

Thank you to @NetGalley and @Catapult for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

#NetGalley #sankofa #books #bookstagram #bookclubreads #bookclub #booklover #reading #ilovebooks #currentlyreading #bookreview #book #bookstagrammer #bookrecommendations #reesesbookclub
#bookblog

Also @reesesbookclub teamed up with the author Chibundu Onuzo to create a @spotify playlist (link in Reese's Book Club bio) that is a lovely background listen while reading.