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Meet the Queen of African Horror

I was asked to review The Sleepless by Nuzo Onoh. I thought I knew what to expect having read her previous books of African horror, Unhallowed Graves and The Reluctant Dead. How wrong I was. My expectations were surpassed in every department.

The quality of writing in this her latest book is superb. The tales are terrifying. The pace is relentless as it speeds you from one scene to another. Reading this book is like being on a speeding bike careening down a hill, thinking you should jump off, but reluctant to lose the excitement. The exhilaration of this story grips you and won’t let you get away. I read of a reviewer who opened the review copy he received in the post, took a quick curious look inside and was still reading it four hours later.

You just have to know what happens to this little girl. You won’t stop reading until you find out.

The practices of ancestral religions in Nigeria are recounted in chilling detail. The evil motives and the malicious wrong-doing of adults and the outrages they perpetrate on the innocent are laid bare with a merciless skill. The weaknesses of those in authority and the warped interpretations of Christianity are shown to be as manipulative and as narrow minded as anything they attempted to replace.

It is only the young who come out of this book with our respect and our sympathy. This strong feeling for the ultimate triumph of the innocence of childhood over the machinations of adults is a theme that runs through Nuzo Onoh’s writing. She shows a strong belief that justice will triumph. Often she shows that justice being sparked through the activities of children, even if the children sometimes have to weave their influence from beyond the grave.

Nuzo’s own experiences as a young child in the Biafran war and the horrors she witnessed during and after that conflict might explain her position. On the other hand, her viewpoint could also be attributed to her belief that people can be redeemed, that salvation is always a possibility until the crassness and obduracy of some individuals block them from finding a way back. Her portrayal of life after death, with a vibrancy in the company of loved ones, gives new meaning to the phrase, enjoying life to the full.

Her books are glorious displays of her superb story telling ability, demonstrating her great way with words and the attention to telling details in impact-filled events that mark her writing.

For the horror element in her work she has fully earned the title ‘Queen of African Horror’. For the sheer readability of her writing she deserves to be recognised for the extra dimension she brings to writing.

Her books are available on Amazon.

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