PRIDE AND JOY

A story of grief and faith within a Nigerian Canadian family.

Newly divorced Joy Okafor Bianchi is a life coach hanging by a thread as she struggles to ensure that every last detail of her mother’s 70th birthday goes according to plan. Her dreams of a perfect celebration are dashed when her 13-year-old niece discovers Mama Mary has died in her sleep, on Good Friday no less. Further complicating matters, Mary’s sister, Nancy, is convinced her sibling will rise again on Easter Sunday owing to a premonition involving a brown cow. Immediately, Mary’s passing turns into an absurdist spectacle as news reporters and community members flock to the house to witness this miracle. Unsurprisingly, disaster, insensitivity, and long-buried family secrets soon follow. YA novelist Onomé’s adult debut features a sprawling cast of characters that ultimately prove too unwieldy to manage effectively. Perspectives rapidly rotate, and one-off characters with no clear narrative significance nevertheless take up precious space. While the author creates compelling young people who struggle with grief appropriately for their age, the adults tend to be unlikable at best, immature at worst. At one point, out of nowhere, a character remarks, “Isn’t it weird how our kids are pretty much the same age, except you got pregnant out of wedlock?” with all the subtlety of a middle school mean girl. Joy’s mild demeanor feels less like relatable meekness than pathological spinelessness. However, Onomé’s rich portrayal of Nigerian culture, foods, and traditions provides much-needed grounding, and her skillful handling of the difficulties first-generation children face as they straddle two or more cultures remains ever relevant.

An uneven novel that’s strongest when it simply sits with a child’s grief.