An Orchestra of Minorities – Chigoze Obioma

READ FOR BOOKERTHON

A Nigerian chicken farmer sells everything he owns in order to win over his girlfriend’s wealthy family.

⚑ “An Orchestra of Minorities is about a Nigerian chicken farmer who falls in love with a girl from a wealthy family. The family do not accept Chinonso due to his lack of education so he seeks to address this in order to be able to marry his love. However, things do not eventuate as planned and the book is a whirlwind of events and agonies for him.

“Chinonso is well written and as such I cared about him deeply – I was desperate for things to work out. The book has no human narrators, instead the chi of Chinonso relays the story as he justifies his human’s actions to a panel of spirits on a divine jury of some sort. This provides a narration language which is rich and magical.

“Obioma has written only two books. Both have been shortlisted for the Booker. That gives you some idea of what a phenomenal writer he is and how worthwhile this book is.” – Rachel

They were the minorities of this world whose only recourse was to join this universal orchestra in which all there was to do was cry and wail.

⚑  “I was a bit apprehensive about this novel as I’d read it was based on Homer’s Odyssey which I know nothing about (and have to say I have no intention of finding out). I thoroughly enjoyed The Fishermen by this author though, so I tried to put aside my doubts and jumped right in.

“Narrated by a spirit guide, there were plenty of twists and turns and I don’t think I have wanted a fictitious character to succeed as much as I wanted Chinonso to. If you know anything about Homer’s Odyssey then maybe you can guess whether or not he did? I am pleased that it was a total mystery to me anyway and I was happy to be along for the ride.” – Suzy

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Published 2019
Little, Brown
448 pages

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