The Road to the Country

A Novel

by Chigozie Obioma

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Pub Date Jun 04 2024 | Archive Date Aug 03 2024

Random House Publishing Group - Random House | Hogarth

General Fiction (Adult) | Historical Fiction | Literary Fiction

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Description

A sweeping, heart-racing, mystical novel about a university student in Lagos trying to save his brother, and himself, amid the chaos of Nigeria’s civil war—a story of love, friendship, and personal triumph by the two-time Booker Prize finalist and “the heir to Chinua Achebe” (New York Times)

“A wondrous novel.”—Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Chain-Gang All Stars, finalist for the National Book Award

“Chigozie Obioma is that rare thing: an original. His world is a mix of the real and the folkloric, and his writing sounds like no one else’s.”—The Wall Street Journal

Longlisted for the New American Voices Award • Named a Best Book of the Year by The Boston Globe, The Economist, and Kirkus Reviews

The first images of the vision are grainy—like something seen through wet glass. But slowly it clears, and there appears the figure of a man.

Set in Nigeria in the late 1960s, The Road to the Country is the epic story of a shy, bookish student haunted by long-held guilt who must go to war to free himself. When his younger brother disappears as the country explodes in civil war, Kunle must set out on an impossible rescue mission. Kunle’s search for his brother becomes a journey of atonement that will see him conscripted into the breakaway Biafran army and forced to fight a war he hardly understands, all while navigating the prophecies of a local Seer, he who marks Kunle as an abami eda—one who will die and return to life.

The story of a young man seeking redemption in a country on fire, Chigozie Obioma’s novel is an odyssey of brotherhood, love, and unimaginable courage set during one of the most devastating conflicts in the history of Africa. Intertwining myth and realism into a thrilling, inspired, and emotionally powerful novel, The Road to the Country is the masterpiece of Chigozie Obioma, a writer Salman Rushdie calls “a major voice” in literature.

Advance Praise

"A writer who wields both the grand and the intimate with incredible precision and power. Obioma reminds us it’s all real, even the surreal, and in his hands anything is possible. A wondrous novel."

—Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Chain-Gang All Stars, finalist for the National Book Award

"This powerfully evocative and intimate book is unarguably Obioma’s finest. Through subtle, piercing, and gripping language, he renders those seemingly simple but unforgettable moments when our lives intertwine with history, anchoring you to the pages until the end. The Road to the Country will remind you that our existence is the histories of past, present, and the future—and the importance of understanding that. This is among the best books I’ve read in a while and certainly destined to be a classic.”

—Ishmael Beah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Long Way Gone

"A spectacular blend of realism and mysticism, The Road to the Country is Chigozie Obioma at his finest. He is a novelist in a league of his own."

—Imbolo Mbue, New York Times bestselling author of Behold the Dreamers

“Chigozie Obioma has proven his mastery of craft in this sweeping, brilliant, and stunning novel. The Road to the Country is a beautifully rendered, eloquent study on time and place and the history that changed a nation. His is a gorgeous prose and storytelling one expects from a gifted writer. A truly unforgettable read.”

—Nicole Dennis-Benn, award-winning author of Here Comes the Sun and Patsy

"Chigozie Obioma brings the Biafran War to life in a visceral yet mystical way. Loss, pain and grief are etched onto a canvas that seems timeless and endless. I grieve for those lost in that doomed declaration of independence but celebrate those, such as Chigozie, who carry their torches."

—Nadifa Mohamed, author The Fortune Men, finalist for the Booker Prize

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