Description
Full of wit, humour and tenderness, The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney is a powerful meditation on youth, race, sexuality and belonging. Nzelu writes with confidence and piercing insight about the delicate negotiation of an identity between two cultures. Generous, profound and uplifting all at once, The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloneyannounces the arrival of a dazzling new voice in fiction.
Shortlisted for the Polari First Book Prize 2020
Shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2020
How do you begin to find yourself when you only know half of who you are?
As Nnenna Maloney approaches womanhood she longs to connect with her Igbo-Nigerian culture. Her once close and tender relationship with her mother, Joanie, becomes strained as Nnenna begins to ask probing questions about her father, who Joanie refuses to discuss.
Nnenna is asking big questions of how to 'be' when she doesn't know the whole of who she is. Meanwhile, Joanie wonders how to love when she has never truly been loved. Their lives are filled with a cast of characters asking similar questions about identity and belonging whilst grappling with the often hilarious encounters of everyday Manchester.
Okechukwu Nzelu brings us a funny and heart-warming story that covers the expanse of race, gender, class, family and redemption, with a fresh and distinctive new voice. Perfect for fans of Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams and Zadie Smith's White Teeth.
Number of pages: 320
Dimensions: 196 x 126 x 30 mm
