For our first book group we'll reading Walking On Cowrie Shells by Nana Nkweti.
An adoptee leverages her new parents to fast track her fortunes. A sword-wielding teenager navigates a crush at Comic-Con. A jaded PR man tries to spin a zombie outbreak in West Africa. A mother and daughter search for spiritual meaning in the midst of a family crisis. A water goddess sacrifices her power for the fisherman she loves.
In these stories, Caine Prize shortlisted author Nana Nkweti pulls from mystery, horror, realism and myth to showcase the complexity of characters whose lives span Cameroonian and American cultures. A dazzling, inventive debut, Walking on Cowrie Shells announces the arrival of a superlative new voice.
‘These genre-leaping stories are funny and heartbreaking and wonderfully ferocious; it’s been ages since I’ve read sentences with this much verve and snap. Walking on Cowrie Shells is a delightful, rollicking debut.’
Carmen Maria Machado, author of In the Dream House
‘Nana Nkweti’s exuberant collection is full of stories that weave together love and friendship, horror and comedy, all with great deftness. The characters, straddling continents and cultures, carving out a place for themselves, remind me of home. A wonderful debut.’
Yaa Gyasi, author of Transcendent Kingdom and Homegoing