Necessary Fiction

Osunde (Vagabonds!) takes a kaleidoscopic view of queer Nigerian life in this vibrant tale of a diverse group of friends and relatives and their internal struggles. The young Maro searches for true love while leaning on his relationship with wealthy businessman Alhaji, who’s old enough to be his father. Psalm, an artist, loves his girlfriend Asang, but their relationship becomes increasingly strained after he cheats on her with the ghost of Love, an old friend who died three years earlier. Love came to him through a “side door in his mind” and now takes Psalm on trips to a Lynchian realm where others in similar relationships hang out together. Meanwhile, May talks with Aunty G, an older lesbian, about the pain of rejection by her family and her struggle with gender identity. Ultimately, she declares: “I’m not a man; I’m May. I’m not a woman; I’m May.” Osunde shines in their voice-driven narration, smoothly integrating Nigerian Pidgin into the novel’s crystalline prose. “I am serious about being alive,” announces a young man named Ziz, who left his judgmental family behind for a new life in Lagos. “Because of this, there is nothing I can’t survive. Anybody who knows me knows that; the rest na breeze.” There’s much to love in this bighearted novel. Agent: Jacqueline Ko, Wylie Agency. (July)

Correction: A previous version of this review referred to the author by the incorrect pronoun.