Born a Crime

The Famished Road is an original that sets out, not to tell a conventional story, but rather to plan and clarify a whole lifestyle and a whole perspective of Africa, where myths are real, the dead are ever-present and the line among dream and the truth is obscured Set in an anonymous African villager, Nigerian creator Ben Okris novel The Famished Road (1991) recounts the narrative of Azaro who is a spirit child or abiku, a term used to portray a kid who is bound to die prior to arriving at adolescence.

From the award winning creator of We Should All Be Feminists - the story is about the narrative of two Nigerians advancing in the U.S. also, the UK, bringing up widespread issues of race, having a place, the abroad experience for the African diaspora, and the quest for identity and a home. Ifemelu and Obinze are youthful and in love when they left military-administered Nigeria for the West. Delightful, confident Ifemelu sets out toward America, where regardless of her scholarly achievement, she is compelled to wrestle with being dark for the first time. Calm, smart Obinze had would have liked to join her, however with post-9/11 America closed to him, he rather dives into a risky, undocumented life in London. After fifteen years, they rejoin in a recently democratic Nigeria, and reignite their passion for one another and for their country.

The author, one of Africa's most esteemed statesmen,a former head of state and president of Nigeria has also been a prolific author of books over the decades.  This was his first book, and from the initial publication, has remained very controversial. Sundry protagonists, critics et al seem to agree that the author hardly has a good word for other people, and apparently exaggerates his own deeds and "heroics".