I loooved the imagery in this book. It put me right into the plot and I was able to picture everything and every person in my mind.

SANKOFA is a compelling, beautifully written, slow burn novel. This is the first of Chububdu Onuzo’s books I have read and I will definitely seek out her other work.

Anna’s story in SANKOFA is unique and yet universal- she searches for identity, family, belonging, meaning. I found Onuzo’s novel to be very entertaining and enjoyable and was easily swept up in Anna’s journey to Bamana, to better understand her father and herself. I would recommend this novel to contemporary fiction fans- it was a quick, easy, fascinating read.

I kindly received this ARC from Catapult and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this story of Anna who while undergoing tremendous personal change then discovers the diary of her father which opens an entirely new storyline of her life. The story follows Anna as she decides how she wants to handle her father and her family relationships. I especially found it interesting to consider her father's story and how that young man came to be the older man she meets. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sankofa was a bit of a slow burn for me, but I'm glad I stuck with it. We follow Anna on her journey as she searches for her father as well as her own identity. It's easy to connect with this middle-aged woman who is looking to belong and for connections to her family and her home. I also loved learning about the meaning of Sankofa and appreciated the cover art even more. Perhaps we would all have a more certain future if we confronted our past. A refreshing and funny story.

Thank you to Catapult and NetGalley for this ARC.

Anna finds herself at a crossroads in her life. She is facing down a divorce from her husband, her daughter is grown and out on her own and her mother has recently passed away. Anna and her mother always had a complex relationship, one reason bring that her mother was white and couldn't understand Anna's childhood as a black girl in Britain. When Anna stumbles on her father's diary (a man she knows nothing about) she decides its time to learn a little more about the mystery man and her lineage.
She is surprised to learn her father was an influential activist turned public figure in West Africa. She decides she must travel to Africa to learn more about her familial past. What ensues is a journey of family and self discovery.
While this was, as a whole, a slower moving story I found myself invested. I enjoyed the process of Anna's path of discovery.

Sankofa: to move forward while looking backwards. Well, that is the overall meaning I've gotten from various sources. And it makes sense based on the story of Anna who finds out that her father is still alive and very much different from the man she came to know through his journal. (It was, sadly, also refreshing to read about racism and prejudice that wasn't centered in the US. Not that it excuses our or their behaviour.) I enjoyed the deep dive into the confusion in Anna's life and how this all interplayed with her discovering her father and even herself. There were parts to the story that seemed to drag on a bit or be added to extend the book more than perhaps it needed to be. But for the most part, I was okay with the slower pace. I felt fully immersed in Anna's life and character.

A middle aged woman whose mother recently passed, finds a diary belonging to her father then sets off to find and meet him. This simple premise is presented here with many side stories and much hand wringing and navel gazing by the main character. I did not connect to her or her story at her age.

UPDATE: I tried this novel again on audiobook and enjoyed it. The pace remains slow and lingering, but with a voice, it felt less hand-wringing and more lyrical. A book to be savored and audiobook is the perfect format.

"There is a mythical bird called the Sankofa. It flies forward with its head facing back. It’s a poetic image, but it cannot work in real life."

In Sankofa, celebrated novelist Chibundu Onuzo takes readers on a journey from London to West Africa with the story of a Black woman of mixed heritage attempting to move forward through adversity while keeping one eye turned back to her past, just like the mythical bird which provides the title of the book.
The story follows Anna Bain, who is doing her best to navigate middle age, an impending divorce from her cheating spouse and a challenging relationship with her only daughter; then, she experiences the devastating loss of her mother. While cleaning out the house of the only parent she knew, Anna discovers a 40-year-old journal written by the father who left before she was born. She is enthralled by the personal insights, tender sentiments and grand political aspiration she finds within the pages from her father.
Unraveling the mystery of her father’s life becomes an obsession for Anna, providing a distraction from the challenges of her daily life. When she learns that her father is alive, excitement is complicated by a degree of resentment for the man who abandoned her mother so long ago. In her efforts to learn more about her father, Anna discovers that he played a significant role in the history of Bamana: first by liberating his native country from colonial rule, and later as a controversial leader of the new nation. Just when the story appears to be winding down and reaching its resolution, the book takes a sharp left and speeds off in another direction, reaching new levels of excitement and danger for Anna and leading the story to a completely unexpected conclusion.
Onuzo first gained international attention nearly a decade ago at the age of 21 when her first novel was published. As a prodigious young writer, she has faced the immense challenge of extraordinarily high critical expectations, but with each novel, she has delivered. Her second book, Welcome to Lagos, received recognition from the American Booksellers Association, Parade Magazine, Elle, The Millions and many other publications. Onuzo was awarded a Ph.D. in history from King’s College London, and her dedication to scholarship is evident in the carefully researched detail and beautifully rendered historical and geographic settings of her stories.
While her previous works have been recognized for their ability to draw the reader into a specific place, Sankofa is most notable for the complex and realistic characters that come alive on the page. Heartfelt emotion, imperfections, blemishes, worries and indecision surround the main character, her father, friends and the rest of the supporting cast. Onuzo sacrifices the allegorical, dramatized tone of her previous novels for one grounded more firmly in realism. This novel focuses on character development, and the intersection of culture, heritage and the individual. Concise, meaningful exchanges of dialogue between characters, as well as extensive internal dialogue, create a sense of motion and movement and an engaging pace.
Anna is a refreshingly mature protagonist who demonstrates an even temper and measured emotion in the majority of her decisions. Through this central character the author is able to present and explore complex motivations and conflicts within the story. The level-headed personality of Anna is in contrast to that of her father; an eccentric, larger-than-life figure who demonstrates the dramatic contradictions that can live within a single person. Her father is both a savior and a monster, who fought for the liberty of the people of Bamana but is also accused of mercilessly ending the movements and opponents that threatened his own rule. When Anna travels to Bamana in search of her father, she realizes that the country itself contains many contradictions. Wealth, diamond mines, palaces, modern city centers and French restaurants exist alongside poverty, outdated customs, dangerous superstitions, even witchcraft and oppressive patriarchal culture. It is a place both independent and forward-thinking but also traditional and resistant to further change.
Sankofa tells the story of a woman who must find the courage to explore her mysterious heritage and face the complicated truth that she discovers. Readers who appreciate an interesting setting and a layered, purposeful plot will be enthralled by this book. The mixed heritage of the main character, Anna, reflects not only pressing questions of race but also the complexity of emotions, motivations and identity within all of us. Our lives become a blend of the things we love and the things we resent. Sankofa is a unique depiction of the past and future, bold and beautiful, courageous and reprehensible that exist within each of us.

What an absolutely gorgeous book. Stunning in its prose, it’s story, and the complexities of losing and finding family. Five enthusiastic stars.

In Sankofa, Anna’s Welsh mother is dead. Anna’s husband has left her. When Anna finds the journal of the African father she has never met, she is intrigued. Can she make contact with him in West Africa? How will he react to her? Why was he kept hidden from her by her mother?

Sankofa is a detailed look into one woman’s life. It is also a look into British systemic racism and African nationalism. The prose feels as if each word was hand-selected to be the perfect word for the situation. Note that the slow pace is more like literary fiction than women’s fiction. Readers of slice of life books will enjoy this heartfelt tale. 4 stars!

Thanks to Catapult and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

A gentle novel about about a middle-aged woman debating whether to divorce her philandering, but remorseful, husband only to find out the father she never knew is living and a former President of a small African nation. While the book is rather slow paced, I did find myself strangely unable to put it down - a slightly different take on a mid life crisis. I felt like there could have a bit more to the story; however, I loved Onuzo's prose and absolutely plan to read them again. Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book!

Anna is a middle aged mixed race female facing big changes in her life. Her mother has died. Her husband has been cheating. As she is clearing away her mother’s things, she finds a journal her father wrote while he was a student boarding in her grandfather’s home. Anna knows nothing about her father except that he was a student and Black. With her life already in turmoil, Anna decides to find her father. In the process Anna comes to know herself and reckons with the choices she has made.

This was certainly an uncommon story. Its slow pace worked, however, I felt like it ended suddenly. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

The discovery of her father's diaries among her mother's things changes Anna's life in this novel about finding yourself in mid-life. Her Welsh mother never told her anything more of her African father than his name, who, as it turns out is the president of a Wes African country. Her marriage having fallen apart and her daughter moved into her own life, Anna decides to go to Africa to get to know her father. There's a naive element to this novel, which is appealing in many ways but frustrating in others. Anna conveys as much younger than she is, among other things. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. The practical reader will have questions. It is, however a good read about turning your life upside down and finding yourself in a new place.

Master storyteller=Chibundu Onuzo. I feel like I have spent today sitting around a campfire listening to the story of Anna-Nana Bain. Sankofa is a beautiful story about Anna who is searching for her full identity. She has never known who her father is. She is separated from her husband (Robert). Her daughter has eating problems. Her mother has just passed away. Her mother left her a diary of Francis Aggrey. Francis had a room in Anna’s grandparent’s house when he was attending university. Through this diary we find out about the past of Francis who Anna discovers is her father. The book moves to the past and to the present. Anna decides to go to her father’s country of Bamana, a small country in Africa, to search out her father who also spent some time as the leader of his country.

I adored this story! Onuzo is a gifted storyteller. There were a few times I was scared for Anna. And I especially enjoyed the camping trip with her father and the encounter with the mystical Wuyo Ama. I look forward to reading other books by Onuzo! My thanks to Catapult and NetGalley for an ARC of the this book. The opinions in this review are my own.

Anna is struggling with her next steps. Her mother has just passed away, her daughter is grown and independent, and she’s on the brink of divorce. Growing up biracial in a white family, she never quite felt like she fit in and has always wondered about her father and the other side of her family. When she finds her father’s diary while cleaning out her mother’s belongings, she begins a journey she has waited for her entire life. She starts with digging to find out who her father was, but quickly realizes that isn’t enough. She wants to know who her father is today. Is he alive? Who did he become after leaving London? As Onuzu leads Anna on this quest for answers, she also crafts a beautiful tale of tradition, family, pride, and self-discovery.

I enjoyed the book. Above all, I felt that Onuzu took the time to develop deep, thought-provoking, realistic characters with genuine, multi-faceted personalities. Characters the reader can attach to, characters whose stories we feel invested in. My favorite part of this book was the pure intelligence behind the writing. The author has a strong voice with which she teaches invaluable cultural and social lessons.

This book comes out on October 5, 2021. I would definitely recommend picking up a copy and reading it slowly. Thinking. Processing. And then read it again.

Thanks to Dr. Chibundu Onuzo, Catapult, and Netgalley for this ARC in return for my honest review.

I received a digital advance readers copy of Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo via NetGalley. Sankofa is scheduled for release on October 5, 2021.

Sankofa is a woman in search of her lost personal history. She has recently separated from her husband, her daughter is out in the world as an adult, and her mother has just died. While processing her mother’s possessions, Sankofa finds the identity of her unknown father and sets out on a quest to find him and connect her present to her past.

For me, Sankofa was a well written and very relatable character. While on the surface, she appears to have control of her life and who she is, underneath she swirls with uncertainty. She is a woman whose roots have pulled loose, as they were in soil too unstable to hold her tight. The characters around Sankofa were less well established, but as the novel was tightly focused on Sankofa’s experience of them and their relationships, this didn’t bother me much.

The story takes place partly in America, with a journey to a small African country. I would have liked to have a bit more of the setting while Sankofa is in Africa, but her experiences there were limited to a small collection of locales.

The plot of this story is largely internal, as we follow Sankofa’s journey into her family history. In the end, the story was resolved in a way that felt out of place for me. It felt like a large shift in the genre of the story that did not match what had come before. It worked in terms of theme, but was difficult to absorb in terms of plot and style of the story, and pulled me out of Sankofa’s journey rather than giving the story a satisfying ending.

Overall, Sankofa was a good exploration of a woman’s search for her true roots. I am curious if other readers had the same experience with the resolution of the novel.

“My mother was six months dead when I opened the trunk I found under her bed,” the first-person narrator of Sankofa, Chibundo Onuzo’s latest novel, begins. A middle-aged, mixed-race woman brought up by a single white mother in London at a time when being black or mixed-race determined one’s outsider social status, Anna, the narrator, now finds herself even more alone and uncertain of her identity. Having sacrificed a career in architecture for marriage, now separated from her husband Robert, and largely detached from their adult daughter Rose, Anna discovers a diary written by her African father, Francis Aggrey, while an international student in 1960s London. Identifying with the intelligent, sensitive, idealistic, outcast young man she envisions behind Francis Aggrey’s words and story, Anna begins looking for information about the man her mother had rarely mentioned.

With names of a couple friends mentioned in the diary and a library where Anna can conduct background research, she discovers not only that her elderly father is still alive and known by the African name Kofi Adjei, but also that he had been a freedom fighter in the colonial Diamond Coast and subsequently the first Prime Minister and later President of the newly independent country of Bamana. Once idealistic, he is reputed to have become a brutal tyrant—a quality she cannot reconcile with the young man who wrote the diary and fell in love with her soon-to-be mother.

Unengaged in her current life, Anna thinks of the ways she can raise the money to travel to Bamana where she hopes to find a way to meet the father who doesn’t know she exists. Avoiding spoilers, I will say only that Chibundu Onuzo has written a revealing account of what it means to be mixed-race, whether in England or West Africa, and of the need to find one’s family, one’s history, one’s place in the world--one’s past and one’s future. Although Bamana is a fictional country, Onuzo convincingly brings its regional history and people to life, giving readers the feeling that Bamana's story could be nearly any West African nation's story.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Catapult for an advance reader copy of this suspenseful and thought-provoking novel. I will look for Chibundu Onuzo’s previous books and eagerly await the next.

Thank you to the publisher and author for this ARC.

This is the story of a woman finding herself and finding the family she never knew she had. When her white mother dies, Anna discovers an old journal amongst her mother's things and learns about her father, whom she never knew. He was an African exchange student in the UK. When she manages to track him down...he's basically a retired dictator. She has various misadventures that range from awkward to terrifying.

This was a delightful little book about a middle-aged Black woman finally finding herself. She is sympathetic and real, and I white enjoyed this one.

Sankofa was a book I really wanted to love. The premise of a young woman wanting to find her father, and connect with him, though she never knew him. To go to him was to go back to the part of her she hadn't known. This is a story that anyone should be able to connect with, and I was excited to dig in.

The sentences were poetry. The story moved along at a good pace. But it was disjointed and hard to follow. If the reader can get over the choppiness, this is a good book. It could have been a great book.

I look forward to more novels by Onuzo, and plan to read her poetry soon. She really can write a gorgeous sentence.

3.5 stars rounded down.

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

Sankofa is a simplistic but beautifully written story about a middle aged woman, Anna, who is recently separated and just lost her mother. While going through her mother's things, she discovers a diary from the father she has never known. After finding out who he is, she goes on a journey to find him and get the answers that she needs.

What kept me going through this book was wanting to get to the climax, which was Anna meeting her father, but even at that point it was a little anti-climatic. It took nearly over half the novel to get to this point and I felt like the anticipation was a little too drawn out. Also, I'm not sure if it was the style of writing or just Anna's personality was but she just seemed really sad and lonely. Towards the end when she started to stand up for herself more, I really became more interested in her. But it was something that her husband said to her which was that she doesn't let people in and allow them to see her. I do think that as the story progress and with her time in Bamana we got to see more of her personality.

I enjoyed the novel but with as much as I learned about the characters, I still felt as if I didn't really get to know them.