Anna is British born daughter of a white woman who seeks the truth of her unknown father. After finding his journals in her mother’s belongings she believe he is a West African President and makes the journey to meet her father.

I found this novel to have great West African cultural aspects. It also addresses race and belonging on many levels. The narrator’s cadence and accent brought this story to life for me.

Thank you Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, the author Chibundo Onzuno for this audiobook.

Wonderful story and narration. Many elements to this intriguing story that will stay with the reader. Almost dreamlike quality to it but very realistic at the same time. Liked the diary vs reality. Siblings were portrayed well. Engrossing to listen to. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

I greatly enjoyed listening to this one. Interesting story, good narrator. Will be on the lookout for this author’s work in the future.

The narrator made this rich and compelling novel come alive! A woman discovers that her father is a dictator of a small African country. Her mother is a recently deceased white woman. A rich story of finding oneself as an adult. I loved it.

If you grew up without your father, would you do everything you can to finally meet him? This is a dilemma faced by the protagonist of this story. Anna Bain is a mixed-race woman in her fifties living in London. At the beginning of the story, Anna’s mother had just passed away and going through her mother’s stuff she uncovers a diary, written in the late 1960s, belonging to Francis Aggrey and she discovers that he is her father.

So Anna starts digging into Aggrey’s life and finds out that he was a revolutionary who returned to his home country, Bamana - a fictional country in West Africa - and became the country’s first president, a position he held for thirty years, making him some kind of dictator. The protagonist finds herself in an existential crossroads: is it worth to travel to another continent to find this man?

The prose is beautiful, the characters are complex. The book addresses issues of race, racism, colorism, power, politics, corruption, father-daughter relationships, infidelity, belonging and tradition. The audiobook narration is great. I recommend it for readers who like politics, history, historical fiction, and identity.

Thanks to Catapult and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy.

A gripping story of family, secrets, and identity. Biracial representation, tackles themes of racism and self discovery.. Powerful and thought provoking- one of the best novels of 2021. Thr narrator is fantastic and really brings the story to life. Highly recommend.

Sankofa is the story of Anna, a mixed raced woman living in England. Anna is 48 years old, recently separated from her husband who was cheating on her and the mother of a 25 year old daughter. She is trying to figure out who she is and where she fits in the world after the death of her Welch mother when she discovers the diary of her African father whom she had never met.

After much research and a struggle to get her visa she travels to meet her father. She struggles to reconcile the man she read about in his diary to the man he is today. Her feelings of never really fitting in are reinforced in Africa where she is considered too white and her memories of childhood where she was too black.

The themes of the book are strong and I really enjoyed the narrator of the book but there are parts where I wished she would just move on. Then, I'm also just not sure how I feel about the end of the book. It went off in a direction I'm still trying to wrap my head around.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy of this audiobook.

Though not my usual genre or type of book, I was immediately drawn in by the unique storyline. Centering around a mixed-race, father-daughter relationship, following Anna through her journey to find her father, and herself, was intriguing and enlightening. The narration of the audiobook was equally fantastic!

Anna has always wondered about her dad, so when she finds his old diaries when cleaning out her mother’s belongings, she’s excited to finally have some clues to who he is. She goes on an adventure to track him down that leads her to West Africa where he has become president of a small nation.

There were some great themes in this book about family and belonging and identity, but at times they got lost in all of the side characters and subplots. I really enjoyed the parts after Anna has found her father where she is not only learning more about her family, but herself. I was sucked in because I needed to know how this would all play out, but at times I got confused by all of the side characters. It was a good read, but left me wanting a bit more.

I did enjoy the audio. The narration was great and the audio was clear.

Thank you to Tantor Audio for the advanced copy.

Stop what you're doing and read this book!
This is the rare book that I want to shout about to everyone. I think there is something in it for everyone. Ana is a biracial Londoner who's white mom dies and she finds a truck of memories under her bed. There she finds out more about her father, who she knows virtually nothing about, and starts to learn about him. When she finds out he is an African dictator, she decides she must go to Africa to meet him. Needless to say, he is a complicated man.
This is the story of identity and belonging, what should be sacrificed by some for the good of many, and who should get to make those decisions. Ana really goes on a physical, and emotional, journey and this story went in many unexpected ways. If you want a book with vibrant characters and complicated relationships and one of the most interesting antihero men I've read about in awhile, read this book.
I did this one on audiobook and loved the narrator and really enjoyed her variety of accents and how she made all the characters come alive. I could not stop listening to this one.
Thank you to Netgalley for the advance listener's copy for review.

Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo is a beautifully written story about Anna, a woman in her 40s who is beginning a new chapter of her life.

Her mother just died, her grown daughter is always busy with work, she is in the middle of a divorce and she finds a diary from her father whom she never met. Turns out, her father became a leader of a small West African nation, perhaps even a dictator. Anna is curious about her father, especially since she was raised by a white mother and her family. Finding her father begins her journey of searching for information about the past while moving forward, a concept, in which the book gets its name. Sankofa is a metaphorical bird that is able to fly forward while looking back. Anna knows that to be able to move forward in her life she must understand her past.

Sankofa is a fantastic read filled with culture, family dynamics and social issues. The audio book is read beautifully which makes the culture come alive!

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this story of a middle aged woman going through a mid life crisis. Having just lost her mother and in the midst of a divorce she finds a journal that leads her to find her father. Her father just happens to be a leader of an African country. This was a well told story and well developed characters. I enjoyed following Anna on her journey at home and then her journey in Africa meeting her father and siblings. I also really enjoyed the narrator. This a a great story that I would recommend.

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.

Sara Powell made this story shine and brought it to life with her accents and narration. I preferred the audio version to the hard copy of the book.

Thank you to Tantor Audio 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.

I loved the narration of this one. I definitely recommend going that route if you enjoy audiobooks. I would listen to more by her in a heartbeat.

I enjoyed Anna's story. Anna navigates what she wants in London (to go through with a divorce or not) and her grown daughter's needs She also learns who her father is after the death of her mother and that takes her on a journey to a country in Africa. I enjoyed the people she met along the way and the discussions that she had. This book was well written and had me thinking! The narrator, Sara Powell, did a fantastic job with this audiobook. Highly recommend!

The story follows British Anna who is middle aged-ish (40s) and has just lost her mother and is facing divorce. She find a series of letters from her West African father among her white mothers belongings. She never knew her father and decided to go on a quest to find him and learn more about her heritage and the man she never knew.

Once in West Africa a series of humorous, uncomfortable and enlightening events take place. I saw someone compare this to a middle aged Eat Pray Love which in a way I suppose it is but with far less whining.

I listening to this on audio and really enjoyed it. The writing is beautiful and the characters were rich and interesting. Some of the pacing was uneven for me but I still really enjoyed this one and would recommend it for an interesting look at a variety of themes; racism, finding oneself by looking back (a nod to the book title), family and belonging.

3.75 stars rounded up

Thank you, NetGalley, for this ALC of Sankofa.

This book did an exceptional job exploring identify and belonging. I highly recommend the audiobook as the narrator depicts the main character’s feelings so well. The listener can feel her emotions through the descriptions.

Anna Bain is the main character and as the story begins, we find out that her mother has died. Additionally, Anna is separated from her white husband and has a daughter. At this stage in her life, Anna is going through many different emotions. One day, as Anna is going through her mother’s files, she finds a diary with details about a man named Francis Aggrey. Francis was an African scholar studying in London when he met Anna’s mom. Soon, Anna discovers that Aggrey is her father and that he is more well known than she expected.

This story takes us on a journey as Anna tries to discover herself and who she really is at this stage in her life. What will happen as Anna tries to connect with her father?

Sankofa, the title of this story, refers to a mythical bird that flies forward with its head back. This is symbolic of Anna’s journey.

I tried this book in print and enjoyed it so much more on audiobook. The narrator is pitch-perfect and the style/tone of this book begs the reader to read slowly and savor it. The pace of the novel is too slow in places, but overall, a lovely and lyrical novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for this Advanced Reader Copy, in exchange for my honest review.

Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo is a book that ends up not being what you initially think. I will admit that I initially found this book to be a bit slow-paced and contemplated not finishing it. BUT, DO NOT DO THIS! The book takes you down a very reflective road about a woman who is at the cross-roads of her life. Anna finds herself in the middle of her life, recently losing her mother, unsure of her marriage and having an adult daughter who does not need her anymore. When she discovers the diary of the man who she is learns is her father, Anna embarks on a journey of discovery about her family and herself.

The book does pick up the pace and really causes you to think. If you like a book about trying to find your roots and yourself, then Sankofa is for you.

Sankofa is described in this book as a mythical bird in Africa who flies forward while looking back, which is not possible in real life but a great analogy and title for this beautiful story. Anna is a 48 year old mixed race British woman who was raised by a single mother. After her mother passes away, she finds a diary written by the father she never knew and decides to search for him in his homeland in West Africa. She discovers that he has quite a legacy beyond being a foreign exchange student boarding in her grandparents' house and goes on a journey of self-discovery as well as getting to know the side of her family she has never met.

Sankofa has a unique pace that is thoughtful and almost meditational in its sensitivity. Chhibundo Onuzo created the perfect atmosphere to take in and experience this beautiful story, which explores issues of race, politics, and personal development with characters so complex and real that I could really feel their struggles and was rooting for them throughout the book.

The audiobook narration by Sara Powell is a perfect example of what audio can add to an already great story! She does a fantastic job of conveying many different accents and personalities in a way that really made them come to life.