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A Spell of Good Things

Written by: Ayobami Adebayo
Narrated by: Babajide Oyekunle, Ore Apampa
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Publisher's Summary

BOOKER PRIZE NOMINEE • A NEW YORKER AND NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • GMA BUZZ PICK • A dazzling story of modern Nigeria and two families caught in the riptides of wealth, power, romantic obsession, and political corruption from the celebrated author of Stay with Me, "in the lineage of great works by Chinua Achebe and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie" (The New York Times).

Eniola is tall for his age, a boy who looks like a man. Because his father has lost his job, Eniola spends his days running errands for the local tailor, collecting newspapers, begging when he must, dreaming of a big future.

Wuraola is a golden girl, the perfect child of a wealthy family. Now an exhausted young doctor in her first year of practice, she is beloved by Kunle, the volatile son of an ascendant politician.

When a local politician takes an interest in Eniola and sudden violence shatters a family party, Wuraola's and Eniola’s lives become intertwined. In her breathtaking second novel, Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ shines her light on Nigeria, on the gaping divide between the haves and the have-nots, and the shared humanity that lives in between.

©2023 Ayobami Adebayo (P)2023 Random House Audio
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What the critics say

GMA BUZZ PICK

A New York Times Editors’ Choice

A SheReads Best Book Club Pick of The Year

A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK: Refinery 29, Financial Times, The Guardian, Oprah Daily, Electric Literature, Brittle Paper, and Write or Die Mag

"Adébáyò established her storytelling prowess in her 2017 debut, Stay With Me....In this compelling follow-up, Adébáyò’s hand is just as deft, but her canvas is more expansive....The graceful, stately quality of the sentences evokes restraint....Timely....Adébáyò humanizes those sucked into the vortex of that power with a striking compassion—the characters’ misjudgments and delusions are deeply and empathetically imagined, wholly alive....Readers around the world may want to turn their gazes from the poor on their neighborhood sidewalks, but the inescapable truth is that the inhabitants of any place remain bound to one another. Not just by space or circumstance, but by our shared vulnerability to the whims of socioeconomic forces, by the recognition that another human’s longings are not so different from our own."—Aamina Ahmad, The New York Times

"Adebayo is a gifted storyteller, and like her debut novel, Stay with Me, her second book does not disappoint. The thin line between the poor and the wealthy is decimated when the lives of Eniola, an errand boy for a tailor, and Wuraola, a physician, collide. The violence of elections and the empty promises of politicians, the obscene wealth of the connected, the hunger and desperation of the have-nots all intersect in this examination of a community in Nigeria."Oprah Daily

"Eniola and Wuraola come from different classes in Nigeria, and in this dynamic sophomore novel from Adebayo, we see how socioeconomic stratification, exacerbated by gender inequality, can destroy lives at all levels. Never mind that these layers are all interdependent and innately connected—a paradox that leads here to a shocking, violent act from which there is no turning back."—Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times

What listeners say about A Spell of Good Things

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Narration made it real

Loved this listen! Interesting character plots and tied in well . The ending was shocking and Left me yearning for more.

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The story unfolded too quickly at the end.

I like the book and I liked the story. both of the narrators were great, although at first there is a difference in audio quality between the two narrators but I got used to that as the story went on. I also felt like the story unfolded a bit too quickly at the end, but maybe that is just because the author did not take the plot into the direction that I was expecting.

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Amazing Read!

I absolutely LOVED everything about this book. The story is very relatable, funny and sad at the same time. I was hooked from the first chapter to the last! The portrayal of issues like poverty and depression is stellar! And do not get me started on the narrators! They have done an exemplary job bringing this book to life!

I can barely wait for Ayobami's next book!

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