Happiness, like water stories

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Something

Summary

Contains ten short stories about Nigerian women.

Contents

On Ohaeto Street
Wahala!
Fairness
Story, story!
Runs girl
America
Shelter
Grace
Designs
Tumours and butterflies.

Published Reviews

Booklist Review: "In her first collection of stories, Nigerian-born Okparanta focuses primarily on African women and their relationships with family, lovers, colleagues, and the community at large. Okparanta draws on her experience as a Jehovah's Witness growing up in Port Harcout and immigrating to the U.S. These are fierce, unflinching stories of the complicated knotting of close ties and the strange behaviors of language. In stories of hearsay and rumor, Okparanta portrays the ways language creeps around social circles and intrudes, distorts, and penetrates the heart of life. In Wahala!, after receiving questionable advice from a shaman, a husband and wife hear chillingly different intonations in each other's intimate exhalations. In Fairness, young girls overhear talk about using bleach to lighten skin color and experiment with the treatment to horrendous results. In other stories, Okparanta presents a picture of the U.S. as envisioned and talked about by Nigerians overseas. Named one of Granta's New Voices, Okparanta joins the good company of young writers like NoViolet Bulawayo (We Need New Names, 2013) and Tea Obreht (The Tiger's Wife, 2011).--Baez, Diego Copyright 2010 Booklist"
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Publisher's Weekly Review: "In this collection of 10 empathetic short stories, Okparanta chronicles life in her native Nigeria and the immigrant experience in America. Her characters mostly hail from Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, where, in "On Ohaeto Street," a woman revises her image of her wealthy husband after a violent burglary. "Story, Story!" features a childless teacher who slowly-and chillingly-reveals her real interest in the pregnant woman she befriends. In "America," a female science teacher has an affair with another woman and faces a choice between two different ways of life. The later stories relocate to America, mainly Boston, where, in "Shelter," a Nigerian woman trying to free herself and her daughter from the woman's abusive husband runs into the indifference of local social workers. In "Designs," a Nigerian student is torn between his childhood sweetheart and his American girlfriend. And in "Tumours and Butterflies," a high school teacher is sucked back into her abusive father's orbit after he's diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Okparanta skillfully introduces readers to a new world held back by old-world traditions, but a sameness to her stories, which typically involve teachers, students, same-sex relationships, and abuse, makes the focus of this collection too constricted. Agent: Jin Auh, the Wylie Agency. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved."
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Additional Information

Subjects	Nigerian Americans Fiction Nigerians Fiction Women Fiction Literature Short Stories Fiction Electronic books.
Publisher	Boston :Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,2013 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt2013
Contributors	OverDrive, Inc.
Audience	Adult
Language	English
System Details	Mode of access: World Wide Web. Format: Adobe EPUB eBook Format: Kindle Book Format: OverDrive Read Requires Adobe Digital Editions or Amazon Kindle
Description	1 online resource
ISBN	9780544003378 0544003373
Other	Classic View