#Hey guys
It’s another book review, taken from the Funny Bits perspective. I didn’t read as many fiction books this year. I bought quite a lot, like more than five. I did not like a lot of them. But Sankofa was a nice book. (Check out my Sankofa unboxing video on YouTube!)
Anna Bain is probably not the most interesting protagonist I have read about, but she is definitely funny. She has this dry humour. Sefi Attah describes her humour, which is reflective of Chibundu Onuzo’s humour as deadpan.
PLOT
Sankofa follows the story of Anna Bain, whose mother dies, and she also finds out that her husband has been cheating on her. While clearing her mother’s things, she finds a journal written by her dad, documenting his time in London. Her mom was white, and her dad is black. Her mom wills her a London flat that she sells, giving her the cash to travel to the fictional land of Bamana, to meet her dad. Apparently, she quit her job as an architect to become a housewife. Spoiler alert, her dad was the former president of Bamana, and she basically has an adventure there, I guess. But I personally do not think Anna needed the resolution she thought she needed so desperately. Anna Bain was basically someone that would come to fairly accurate conclusions from things happening around her, so it was quite surprising that it took her a while to notice her husband’s cheating. Perhaps, she only started coming to quick conclusions after her husband started cheating and she found out.
RATING
This book was okay, I guess. I would give it a 7 out of 10. Now, the reason for this is that I was not captivated throughout the story. But I do think I like Chibundu Onuzo’s literary style.
Here are a few funny bits from the book:
- Anna Bain went to the Notting Hill Carnival, and she was like, ‘Are we in Africa?’….looool page 107 Anna grew up with her mother’s side of the family, so she never had black collective experiences or conditioning. But her aunt took her to the Nottinghill carnival.
- The Bamanaian High Commission was close to Trafalgar Square.’ Like duh, isn’t that the Nigerian embassy? Lol
- The Nigerianness of the Bamanian Embassy chapeter 15 page 112
- The Eis were comical. The zip is faulty. I’m just managing it. She ran the zip back and forth until the Louis Vuitton bag looked closed. Page 113
- They seemed sympathetic to each other. As one spoke, the rest nodded, until everyone had spoken and everyone had nodded. Page 118
- ‘Mr Moses,’ she said again, raising her voice for a moment sliding out of her hospitality training. This was an encounter Anna had at a hotel in Bamana.Page 133
- ‘I have a meeting at ten, which probably means two…’ said Ken Page 138. This was more Nigerian behaviour, I guess. Lol.
- They seemed sympathetic to each other. As one spoke, the rest nodded, until everyone had spoken and everyone had nodded. Page 118 (More Nigerianness)
- Anna has an encounter with a strange man. Lol. Ken, ‘I have a son about his age.’ Anna, ‘You miss him.’
- Ken, ‘Yes. He’s with his mother. She left me for a man who travels less. A GP. You don’t get more earthbound than that.’ Pages 142-143
- Anna describing her half sister. ‘You could tell she was Bamanaian but her accent was glossed with something British, something clipped and slightly braying. Page 207
- Kofi misses Afua’s sarcasm on page 217. ‘She has a daughter, my oldest grandchild. Twenty-five years old,’ Kofi said. ‘Maybe Papa will update the family tree that hangs in the house in Segu. ‘What a wonderful idea. Will you oversee it?’ he asked Afua. Page 228
- Kweku was the fattest Bamanaian I had seen. When he was not speaking, his lips remained parted so he could breathe. Page 231
- Kweku: ‘I’d better return to my guests.’ Anna: ‘Yes, before someone thinks I’m your mistress.’ ‘A wit. I thought I was the only Adjei wit. It’s been lonely.’ Kweku is Anna’s half brother and they have some banter and laughs.
Have you read this book? Tell me what you think.