Being the opera of the family, Kingsley Ibe is entitled to certain privileges — a piece of meat in his egusi soup, a party to celebrate his graduation from university. As the first son, he has responsibilities, too. But times are bad in Nigeria, and life is hard. Unable to find work, Kingsley cannot take on the duty of training his younger siblings, nor can he provide his parents with financial peace in their retirement. And then there is Ola. Dear, sweet Ola, the sugar in Kingsley’s tea. It does not seem to matter that he loves her deeply; he cannot afford her bride price.
It hasn’t always been like this. For much of his young life, Kingsley believed that education was everything, that through wisdom, all things were possible. Now he worries that without a “long-leg” — someone who knows someone who can help him–his degrees will do nothing but adorn the walls of his parents’ low-rent house. And when a tragedy befalls his family, Kingsley learns the hardest lesson of all: education may be the language of success in Nigeria, but it’s money that does the talking.
Unconditional family support may be the way in Nigeria, but when Kingsley turns to his Uncle Boniface for help, he learns that charity may come with strings attached. Boniface–aka Cash Daddy–is an exuberant character who suffers from elephantiasis of the pocket. He’s also rumoured to run a successful empire of email scams. But he can help. With Cash Daddy’s intervention, Kingsley and his family can be as safe as a tortoise in its shell. It’s up to Kingsley now to reconcile his passion for knowledge with his hunger for money and to fully assume his role of first son. But can he do it without being drawn into this outlandish milieu?
About the Author
Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani is a novelist, journalist, and essayist. Based in Abuja, Nigeria, she is the first contemporary African writer to launch a global career while fully domiciled in her home country.
Her debut novel, I Do Not Come to You by Chance, won the 2010 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book (Africa) and the 2010 Betty Trask First Book award. It was named by The Washington Post as one of the Best Books of the Year.
Her debut young adult novel, Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree, based on dozens of interviews with women and girls kidnapped by the terrorist group Boko Haram, was published by HarperCollins in September 2018. Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree won the 2018 Raven Award for Excellence in Arts and Entertainment, was named one of the American Library Association’s Best Fiction for Young Adults, and is a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People 2019 selection.
Nwaubani’s journalism focuses on underreported humanitarian issues. Her reports and essays have appeared in several publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The Guardian.
She writes a monthly column for the BBC’s Letter from Africa and also broadcasts on the Focus on Africa radio program. She was a location producer for the BBC/HBO documentary feature film Stolen Daughters: Kidnapped by Boko Haram and a super stringer for the Reuters Foundation. Nwaubani was also a recipient of the 2019 Carter Journalism Institute’s Reporting Award.
Other Books by the Author
Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree
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