Review: And After Many Days

And After Many Days

Jowhor Ile

Paul, a seventeen year old Nigerian boy disappears one evening in 1995 and this story follows the family during the days after his disappearance. The tale weaves back and forth into the past, to the childhood of Paul, his brother Ajie and sister Bibi, and the time spent with their parents in both Port Harcourt and the family's ancestral village.

The author covers family relations, political developments and community action all in one spellbinding story, never losing the thread of Paul's disappearance and it's effect on his family and their constant search for answers. There were wonderful descriptions of sibling rivalry and the changing nature of things in both rural and urban environments. The themes of love, loss, tragedy made the book hard to put down. Overall, it was an incredibly well written, moving story that made me laugh and cry. It told me so much more than simply how a family deals with loss and change. It told me about constant change in a community and a nation as a whole.

Thanks to LibraryThing and Crown Publishing for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.