Black Sunday

Twin sisters Bibike and Ariyike are enjoying a relatively comfortable life in Lagos in 1996. Then their mother loses her job due to political strife and their father gambles away their home, and the siblings are thrust into the reluctant care of their traditional Yoruba grandmother. Inseparable while they had their parents to care for them, the twins’ paths diverge once the household shatters: one embracing modernity as the years pass, the other consumed by religion.Written with astonishing intimacy and wry attention to the fickleness of fate, Black Sunday delves into the chaotic heart of family life. In the process, it tells a tale of grace in the midst of daily oppression, and of how two women carve their own distinct paths of resistance.

Reviews of Black Sunday

Abraham's debut novel tackles weighty topics . . . with a refreshing elegance . . . Abraham gently ushers readers into both sisters' perspectives, inviting us into their journey to autonomous peace * * Booklist * * Abraham stuffs her novel past brimming, but its sophisticated structure and propulsive narration allow her to tuck in a biting critique of corrupt colonial religion and universally exploitative men . . . A formidable debut * * Kirkus (starred review) * * The novel's strength lies in its lush, unflinching scenes . . . Abraham mightily captures a sense of the stresses of daily life in a family, city and culture that always seems on the edge of self-destruction * * Publishers Weekly * * In a fresh and fierce debut, Tola Rotimi Abraham proves that it's an act of indelible resistance every time a young woman tells her story. Through the eyes of a family at its brink, Abraham reveals the truth about violence, tenderness and the disquiet in between. Black Sunday is a surprising switchblade of a novel — AMY JO BURNS * * author of Cinderland * * An assured and worthy debut, Black Sunday finds lyricism in the swell of everyday betrayal. In Abraham's hands, the coming-of-age novel mourns the easy perversion of sex, love, ambition, and faith, glimpsing, nevertheless, twin moments of grace and intimacy, daring and strength — TRACY O'NEILL * * author of The Hopeful * * With stunning beauty and painful wisdom, Tola Rotimi Abraham's Black Sunday lays bare her characters' deepest aches and desires in a voice that is as haunting as it is addictive — MARGARET WILKERSON SEXTON * * author of The Revisioners * * Tola Rotimi Abraham's sharp, captivating debut thrums with the energy of life itself. The story of a family and a city reeling from wounds both private and political, Black Sunday delivers unforgettable characters as they adapt to often cruel circumstances and fight to author their own futures. Abraham writes with such irresistible confidence and startling precision, I can't wait to see what she does next — MIA ALVAR * * author of In the Country * * Simultaneously unique and universal . . . Black Sunday is a literary wound that bleeds pain for a while, but you should stay the course, because that's followed by lots of love, beauty and hope * * NPR * *