A collection of short love stories, Love in Colour is what I like to call a genuine reading experience. The book is split into two parts; old and new tales, with the old tales being retellings of age-old myths and romances, and the new ones being Babalola's own creations.
Unfortunately for Kemi, her worst fears were confirmed. She was only a redundant body in a ceremonial role. Jonny poached Kemi for her skin color to represent diversity in a predominantly white company. It wasn't for her brilliance; neither was it for her experience. It was for her skin color.
I haven't lived in London before, but I'm not sure that Africans in London who are almost working-class or working-class by association can afford to eat from the buka every week and also afford takeouts as huge as what Ronke always did.
I would also recommend this for people that love messy characters (believe me, I can't count how many times I wanted to beat up some of them)
Asides from a few attempts by people like Fagunwa, Ben Okri, Amos Tutuola, and a few others, there is a dearth of information on Nigerian indigenous religions and mythologies.
The first thing that caught my attention was the author's writing. I love his writing! He writes in a way that bonds with the book nerd in me! And the songs? They reminded me of Wattpad.
Slavery, kingship, courage, patriarchy, domestic violence, education, and love were some of the themes covered in this novel. This body of work displays Ayesha's rich knowledge and storytelling, and subtle humor.
It was a light, easy, and mildly entertaining novel. The type of novel that you can read, be satisfied with and then absolutely forget mostly because it's not the kind of story that stays with you.
One thing that hit me in this book was how the minds of the black people living in the UK at that time were conditioned. It was like they were made to believe that they were lesser humans and that the white person was better than them.
Love, cheating, heartbreak, domestic violence, family, police brutality were some of the themes covered in this collection of short stories because this collection is infused with the magic of evocative storytelling you might be drawn to or haunted by a character or two.
A man sleeps with the maid and impregnates her, deceives the wife he claims to love, and this same wife, Ezi, is required to apologize to the husband because she has only a daughter for him while the maid has a son.
Why did I have to carry this shame like a second skin? And every day for a month after the incident, I would usually find myself whispering to myself, "I am ruined."
