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Oyinkan Braithwaite’s debut novel is a richly textured story concerned with loyalty and compassion imagined within the confines of tight crime-novel pacing. Braithwaite’s masterful prose and sharp wit gave me that rare feeling when I finished the novel that I had not actually taken a breath since starting it. The attention-grabbing title may suggest a pulpy-crime novel, which could not be farther from reality. Braithwaite waves a tale of sisterhood and loyalty, and the dangers of codependence and imbalanced power dynamics. It is dark, explosive, and witty, but also deeply compassionate in its refusal to judge its central characters and their loyalties.
The novel centers on the perspective of Korede, a successful nurse living with her mother and sister in Lagos, who is thoughtful, driven, and incredibly meticulous. Korede’s entire existence hides in the shadow of her sister’s staggering physical beauty, making her the prize child and the object of the affections of many. Korede’s sister Ayoola is impulsive, materialistic, and never seems to be able to shoulder the responsibility of her destructive behavior. Korede is her sister’s only protector, and the only one who is privy to Ayoola’s many shortcomings. Their relationship becomes even more fraught when Ayoola’s boyfriends begin winding up dead after confrontations with Ayoola, who always calls her sister to clean up the mess. After Korede has scrubbed and bleached the apartments of three of her sister’s dead boyfriends, she begins to worry that her sister will be labeled a ‘serial killer’, and is consumed by a fear that Ayoola’s reckless behavior will implicate her in her crimes. After the the death of the third boyfriend, Korede becomes suspicious of Ayoola’s claims of self-defense, and her sister’s dissociative behavior after the fact. Korede is the one shouldering the emotional weight of her sister’s actions, carrying a burden that is only hers by association. These tensions come to a head when Ayoola begins dating the handsome doctor from Korede’s office, whom Korede had been fantasizing about for many years. Korede had thought the smart and wholesome doctor would be immune to Ayoola’s games, but Ayoola shatters this fantasy with the observation, “All he wants is a pretty face. That’s all they ever want.”
However, this is not simply a story about the beautiful sister stealing a man out from under the dutiful sister’s nose, it is not simply about jealousy or lust. Due to her cooperation, Korede is implicated in her sister’s prior bad acts, and though she experiences a great deal of personal frustration at her sister’s favored status and reckless above-the-law attitude, Korede wholly dedicates herself to the protection of her sister’s well being. Throughout the narrative, Braithwaite weaves in flashbacks to the girls’ abusive father, a greedy and dishonest businessman who was constantly beating up on his wife and daughters. Their close relationship is thus transformed by the necessity of survival, as Korede has been protecting her sister from their father basically since birth, which makes her dedication all the more understandable. Korede is a deeply relatable figure for any person who has ever felt invisible or under appreciated, and I felt myself so entirely identifying with her that I was often outraged at her sister for taking such advantage of her. But what ultimately sustained my interest in the sisterly relationship is that Braithwaite never quite let that outrage overflow, and she so masterfully controls the tension by declining to pass judgement on either sister. This female relationship feels so unique because its fraught-ness is not the essential conflict for the author to resolve, just as their are no easy conclusions within a dangerous familial relationship that lacks a healthy power dynamic in real life.
This book is an exercise in caustic wit and relational trauma, and there is such a deep humanity behind this explosive narrative. It is truly breathless, so smart, funny, and tightly wound, and such a refreshingly modern take on the noir genre. The sister relationship becomes a playing ground for both pain and trauma, but also deep kinship and a wellspring of love and devotion. An incredibly promising debut from a rising star, I am holding my breath for what she comes up with next.