Blessings
Chukwuebuka Ibeh
Blessings is the debut novel of Chukwuebuka Ibeh, who has lived most of his life in Nigeria and is currently studying in the USA.This coming-of-age story of a gay man in Nigeria, where homosexuality was made illegal by a law passed during the story, tells about a young man who falls in love with an apprentice boy and whose family are so ashamed that they send him off to a strict, religious and violent boarding school. It shows the pain of being excluded from society simply because of who you are and how that leads to shame and even to joining in with terrible behaviour in an effort to conform with the norms of the dominant group. The development of the relationship between the mother and her son is he grows into adulthood is also examined as the book switches between their points of view. The book is written in a straightforward style, but nevertheless it is deeply moving story.
References in the press
“What marks Blessings out is the political underpinning of the story. Homosexuality is not just misunderstood, feared or loathed – it is criminalised, and this element of state repression adds a pressing risk. Everything Obiefuna does, feels and wants is marked by the government as forbidden, and it’s moving to read about his struggles as his horizons narrow and loneliness sets in (…) Another layer of emotion is added through the perspective of Obiefuna’s mother, Uzoamaka, who is caught between caution and maternal support, womanly ambition and the price of marriage to a dogmatic man. (…) An emotive, affecting debut.” Bidisha Mamata, The Guardian, 3 March 2024 “Ibeh chooses to train the usually omniscient third-person point of view on a single character, or two in the case of Blessings. The result is that Obiefuna is overdeveloped, but the book’s supporting characters are unremarkable and quickly forgotten. This lack of interiority flattens many of the novel’s pivotal moments (…) Not even Uzoamaka, who has whole chapters dedicated to her, or Miebi, Obiefuna’s true love, are compelling enough characters to match the intensity and care with which Obiefuna is crafted onto the page. It is a fatal flaw in an otherwise captivating debut.” Edwin Okolo, The Republic, 5 May 2024Recommendations
Alan Hollinghurst, Our Evenings (2024)
Our Evenings follows the life of English-Burmese Dave Win as he discovers his sexuality and attempts to make a name for himself as an actor in a predominantly white environment.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Purple Hibiscus (2004)
Purple Hibiscus is a coming-of-age story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The protagonist, Kambili, is trying to navigate her way through a strict religious social climate, against the backdrop of a military coup in Nigeria.
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (1958)
Things Fall Apart depicts the life of the people in the Igbo tribe, and how their lives changed when the first European colonists enforced their own notions of civilization and religion upon them. We follow Okonkwo, one of the strongest warriors of his tribe, in his efforts to sustain their traditional way of living, and to prevent the influence of the new religion and education that the colonizers brought with them.
Sources
- Gupta, Alok, and Human Rights Watch (Organization). This Alien Legacy: The Origins of “Sodomy” Laws in British Colonialism. New York: Human Rights Watch, 2008.
- Human Dignity Trust. “Nigeria.” Last modified March 11, 2025.
- Penguin Random House. “Chukwuebuka Ibeh,” About the author. Accessed 25 January, 2025
