Kachifo Limited, the publishers of Farafina Magazine and Farafina books is proud to announce the release of the West African Paperback edition of Chris Abani’s new novel Becoming Abigail in Nigeria. It’s available in all major bookstores.

SYNOPSIS

Becoming Abigail is a coming-of-age story of a young girl who has been forced to grow. A girl whose childhood is lost in the shadow of a mother she doesn’t even know and whose innocence has been sacrificed on the altar of experience. Chris Abani in this novella gives us a graphic representation of Abigail’s sufferings, the inhumane treatment she undergoes in the hands of Peter who claims he’s taking her to London to give her a better life and the struggle to find her identity and establish it in her father’s heart.

The book explores human trade, sexual abuse, identity struggles, re-incarnation, love and death.

REVIEWS

“Moody,lyrical prose reminiscent of Toni Morrison’s Beloved… Though the fictional Abigail exists only on the pages of Abani’s novella, her character will seize the imagination of everyone who reads her story.”
• Essence Magazine

“Becoming Abigail,a spare yet voluptuous tale about a young girl’s escape from prostitution is so hypnotic that it begs to be read in one sitting… Abigail is sensitive, courageous, and teetering on the brink of madness. Effortlessly gliding between past and present. Chris Abani spins a timeless story of misfortuneand triumph.”

• Entertainment Weekly

“A darkly poetic investigation into the past’s deceptive hold over the present … Abani writes in dense, gorgeous. Abigail is not a creature of pity but inspiration.”

• The Nation