Welcome to Lagos

Review An entertaining and funny picture of Lagos life. ― Guardian A fine novel . . . worlds - rich and poor, urban and rural, privileged and powerless, Muslim and Christian, Igbo and Yoruba - collide to spectacular effect as their paths cross and power shifts hands in surprising and unexpected ways, and then does so again, and again. ― Economist In the 1960s and 70s my parental home was Ibadan, western Nigeria. From there I used to visit Lagos regularly -- even then an unruly, exciting place. The unruly factor and the excitement factor are now off the dial -- not to mention the stress factor, the population factor and the danger factor. This heady ambience is perfectly caught in Chibundu Onuzo's tremendous second novel Welcome to Lagos. -- William Boyd ― Guardian 'Best Holiday Reads Picked By Wirters' Hugely accomplished . . . Nothing evades Onuzo's biting prose and whipsmart humour. ― Independent I loved the bittersweet tone of this novel, so wise and beautiful. -- Stephen Kelman, author of Pigeon English A portrait of contemporary Nigeria that I found difficult to put down. ― Stylist 'Exciting New Reads' An entertaining and provocative second novel ?. . . a dazzling road trip from the badlands of the Niger Delta to Nigeria's sprawling and chaotic megacity. ― Reader's Digest A hugely accomplished tragicomic farce about life in Nigeria, written by one of the country's brightest young stars. Nothing evades Onuzo's biting prose and whipsmart humour. ― Herald Product Description Shortlisted for the RSL Encore Award 2018 Five runaways ride the bus from Bayelsa to a better life in a megacity. They are unlikely allies -- a private, a housewife, an officer, a militant and a young girl. They share a need for escape and a dream for the future. Soon, they will also share a burden none of them expected, but for now, the five sit quietly with their hopes, as the billboards fly past and shout: Welcome to Lagos. Book Description A powerful and provocative portrait of contemporary Nigeria from a celebrated young novelist. About the Author Chibundu Onuzo was born in Lagos, Nigeria in 1991. Her first novel, The Spider King's Daughter, won a Betty Trask Award, was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Commonwealth Book Prize, and was longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and the Etisalat Prize for Literature. She is completing a PhD on the West African Students' Union at King's College London.