Enjoy The Book Of Echoes Designed By Rosanna Amaka Contained In Copy

searing, rhapsodic novel, The Book of Echoes is filled with beauty, devastation and the power of ancestral connections that ripple through the ages' IRENOSEN OKOJIE

'So bewitching I almost felt like I timetravelled back into Brixton.
A gorgeous book totally recommended, ' ALEX WHEATLE

A sweeping, uplifting story of how a boy from Brixton and a girl from Lagos escape their dark past to find themselves a bright future.


: England looks forward to a new decade, But on the streets of Brixton, its hard to hold onto your dreams, especially if you are a young black man.
Racial tensions rumble, and now Michael Watson might land in jail for a crime he did not commit,
Thousands of miles away, village girl Ngozi abandons her orange stall for the chance to work as a maid.
Alone in a big city, Ngozis fortunes turn dark and soon both her heart and hopes are shattered,
From dusty roads to gritty pavements, Ngozi and Michaels journey towards a better life is strewn with heartache and injustice.
When they finally collide, their lives will be transformed for ever,

With

irresistible joy and grace, Rosanna Amaka writes of people moving between worlds, and asks how we can heal and help each other.
Humming with beauty and horror, tragedy and triumph, THE BOOK OF ECHOES is a powerful debut from an authentic new voice in British fiction.
Rosanna Amakas debut is essentially a testament to black history and a portrayal of the oppression and injustices that were overcome on the road to equality and an expansive story which crosses continent and decades.
The story also serves as a reflection to how the traumatic experiences of ones ancestors continue to resonate through future generations and how racism and oppression can be countered by resilience, hope and love.


The novel opens with the voice of an African slave woman losing her life on arrival at West India Docks some two hundred years ago and together with her lover, Wind, continuing to travels continents and watch over ordinary peoples lives in an effort to be reunited with her two lost children.
It is through this characters ghost that readers witness the lives of the novels two protagonists, Michael and Ngozi, and watch their lives unfold from very different starting points in thes onwards.
That the lives of these two characters will eventually collide much further down the line and after their experiences have shaped them is known from the off.
However as the novel opens it is difficult to envisage how Michael Watson, a boy of Jamaican heritage living with his stepmother in a Brixton council flat might possibly cross paths with Ngozi Nwosu, a fruit seller in a small Nigerian village.


Michaels story begins with the violent murder of his stepmother at the hands of his psychotic brother and leaves him at the age of fifteen angry and determined to support his younger sister, Marcia, and ensure she continues her education.
As he is led astray by his old primary school friend, Devon, and in need of ready money is unwittingly drawn into the thriving drugs trade he is casually involved with a continuous stream of always white women.
It is when he is sent to prison and after several years away is thrust out into a very different London to the one he remembers that he faces his biggest test yet and must show his true courage and fortitude.


It was Ngozis story that I found the most powerful, perhaps because I had no knowledge about the life she was born into and was in awe at the hardship she battled through.
From leaving the tiny village of Obowi and her single mother and younger siblings to travel and work as a maid for a wealthy family, her story is one of adversity, tragedy and heartbreak and is a genuine inspiration.
Much of Ngozis dialogue is written in patois and although initially disconcerting it quickly became easier to comprehend and alongside Amakas vivid descriptions of her surroundings served to generate a real sense of place.


I had no expectations prior to reading the novel and after being throughly impressed with the emotive first half and vying for both Michael and Ngozi my interest began to taper off in the later stages.
The quality of writing was never at issue and is very well done, rather my reservations relate to the content of the second half which lost the balanced presentation of the first.
As the novel gradually comes up to date I was frustrated that the characters journeys turned more prosaic and portrayed so much of the struggle in Brixton rather myopically.
From simply reading the novel one would be left with a very biased impression of London in thes and not the reality which was that racism, police brutality and social prejudice was met and matched by confrontation, antagonism and uprising and not the onesided affair shown.
As a South Londoner myself it was ultimately Amakas rewriting of recent history in the area that spoiled what had promised to be an involving and emotive read.
Worth reading and wellwritten for sure, but a portrayal of London in thes that deserves regarding with scepticism.
The novel opens with the spirit of a woman haunting the West India docks, in London, She remembers two hundred years back when the smell of a dead boy gave her hiding position away and her and her unborn baby were dragged away, their freedom lost forever.
She still searches for her Son, Uzo, who she hid before being taken by the slavers, and the daughter, although she never saw her, she knows that she had a baby girl, who she never got to name.
On days she can hear them cry out to her, and she searches, the world for them, always returning to these docks empty handed.


Michaels world is turned upside down when his eighteenyear old brother Simon, murders his stepmother, Michael, only sixteen, quickly realises that he is drowning, unable to handle the weight of the world crushing him.
He does not even have enough money for his stepmothers funeral, and his part time job at the supermarket is not going to be enough to pay the multitude of bills.

With his mind fragile and his psyche fractured he turns to his best friend from his school days and starts to become ensnared in the world of drugs.
Not just because he needs the money, but he needs a place where he can relax and mask the pain of what has happened.
He doesnt realise that this lifestyle is only a façade, the problems are still there and getting worse by the day.


Chapter five, returns the reader to Nigeria in, to the little town of Obowi, This is the town where the ghost of the mother left her son before the slavers took her and she takes up the narration again.
She laments that not much has changed until you start looking more closely, Some items such as the World War II tank left from the Biafran War, incongruous to her time, others have remained for over two hundred years.
It is here in Obowi that we meet Ngozi,

Ngozi is anxious because she must move to Enugu, a village much larger than Obowi, Ngozi, does not want to leave her family, but has no choice, because she is moving to continue her education.
She is worried that the family who she is staying with, the Asikas will not like her,

Through the eyes of the ghost of the mother, while continuing her endless search for her children, we follow the narratives of Michael and Ngozi, who for some reason she is drawn to.

We witness their lives changing as they get older, Both characters represent archetypical classes that they are locked into, a titanic effort needed to break the mould into which they have been poured.


I think that this is reflected in the brilliant choice of title, The Book of Echoes. Echoes representing the same lives, lives that are locked into similarity and repetition, never changing with each generation and weakening with each echo.


Both of their lives are extremely different but equally challenging, We live with the difficulties that Ngozi and Michael experience, Amaka uses a wonderful phrase, “forceripened into adulthood” as they try to escape from the stereotype and live a better life.


Throughout the novel, the narrative will switch back to the past when the ghost of the mother was alive, and we witness the horrible conditions she experiences after being stolen from her village.
I dont think that a novel can capture the cruelty and sadness that she would have experienced, but Amaka gives it a cracking attempt.


Amakas biography states that she started this novel twenty years ago and it certainly shows, There are no signs of this being a debut and it is smartly written, You can feel Amakas passion rising off the page, The novel covers an enormous amount of time, capturing the lives of the protagonists, from child to adult, but it never gets mired in the mundane, perhaps because the protagonists lives are such a struggle and such a fight to survive, they dont seem to experience a boring moment.


Amaka does not hide that this books central theme is the oppression and struggle of black African people and women.
She makes the excellent point of how far they and we as a whole society have come through the words of Marcia, Michaels sister,

“Michael, it doesnt look like things are changing because were living it.
But over time, just as when we look back to our greatgrandparents time, weve moved a whole galaxy forward.
In our greatgrandfathers and grandmothers time, we would have been out there cutting sugar cane for some slave master on some plantation, being whipped For Christs sake, we might not have even known each other or Mum they might have sold us at birth.
Or even forty years ago, would I have had the opportunity to go to the school I went to”

In this novel, its Nigeria and England, but the narrative holds true for the world.
We are making, and have made huge progress to wiping racism, sexism, and bigotry from the world, it is hard for us to see because we are living in the moment, but hopefully in the next couple of generations, if we have not destroyed the planet, we will have at least destroyed racism, sexism and bigotry.


I requested this book for review because of its narrative, its strong theme of racism and the struggle of those who experience it.
Growing up in Queensland Australia, I experienced many forms of racism inflicted on the Aborigines, who are mentioned a few times in this book.
Everybody in this world deserves the same chance, the same opportunities, the same happiness as everybody else, regardless of race or sex.


People will read that sentence and say, Oh but its not that simple,

But it is!

Stars!

This book will be published by Doubleday onth February.


What a fabulous debut novel!

The story is narrated by the spirit of an African woman who lost her life overyears ago at The West India Docks in London, shortly after arriving on a slave ship.
She tells the poignant story starting in thes, of Michael, living in Brixton and Ngozi, in Nigeria,

Beautifully written by Amaka, with rich prose and wonderful characterisation, We learn in detail about the lives of Michael and Ngozi the atrocities they experience, the challenges they face and eventually, how fate brings them together.


The Book of Echoes is a truly powerful, thoughtprovoking read, dealing with the injustices of racial discrimination and inequality.
The emotional story is heartbreaking, but also hopeful and uplifting,

Many thanks to the publisher for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review,
A beautifully written story about two people, Michael in Brixton and Ngozi in Laos, and a tortured spirit of a slave who haunts the London docks looking for her lost children.
The story explores the horrors of the slave trade and how it echoes through the centuries, It follows the lives of Michael and Ngozi, which are full of hardship, despite this, both move forward because of their courage.


Rich in details of their lives, portrayed through vivid imagery, It is honest and poignant, Echoes of the past affect both Michael and Ngozi, The spirit who watches over them is herself an echo, A heartbreaking story, which brings the past to life, and shows how it illuminates the present, The ending is powerful and uplifting,

I received a copy of this book from Random House UK, Transworld Publishers Doubleday via Netgalley in return for an honest review.




Today is my stop on the blog tour for 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞 𝗢𝗙 𝗘𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗘𝗦 by Rosanna Amaka, Thank you to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours and Transworld/Penguin Random House for having me along, and sending me a copy of the book.


𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗱. 𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀, 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀. 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗯 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲. 𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀.

It's hard to know where to start with book reviews sometimes, so I will start by simply saying I loved The Book of Echoes.

Told from three main perspectives Michael, a young black man from Brixton Ngozi, a young black woman from Nigeria, and the spirit of an African woman, an ancestor of sorts, who lost her life on a slave ship two centuries earlier it is an incredibly moving and poignant book.


𝗔 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘄. 𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘁𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗺𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗿. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗧𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝗧𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱.

As you'd probably expect, the book does make comments on racism, inequality, and the corruption that stems from outdated class sytems, both in the UK and in Nigeria.

However, the stories of Michael and Ngozi kept me hooked and interested throughout, This was not a preachy or reprimanding novel instead, it highlighted the stories of two excellently crafted characters, who could easily be based on real people, and whose experiences stay with them.


𝗙𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁. 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘆 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲, 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻, 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻. 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝗿, 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝗻. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄 𝗵𝗶𝗺, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀, 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗷𝗼𝘆, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗽 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿

Amaka portrays emotion so well within The Book of Echoes, both positive and negative, There is a lot of injustice and righteous anger, but there is also joy, love, and acceptance,
Michael and Ngozi both have difficult experiences, in very different ways, but rather than dwell on the emotions and experiences that could crush them and make them bitter about life, they choose to rise up and focus the energy into something beneficial for others as well as themselves.

This made me really root for them both, and I was glad when they found each other,

𝗬𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.

I found Michael's journey particularly interesting, He goes through different phases of trying to umderstand himself, and trying to understand his heritage,
We all want to understand where we came from, and what we are made of, but this certainly isn't an easy feat for Michael given his family history and the tragedies and heartbreaks that have taken place.


𝗛𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹, 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗶𝗿, 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆. 𝗡𝗼 𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗻𝗼 𝗱𝗿𝘂𝗴𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝗺, 𝗻𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝘁, 𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀. 𝗛𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗿, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗲𝘅, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱, 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗱, 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲, 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲, 𝗺𝗶𝘅𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗱.

Family is an interesting theme within The Book of Echoes, As in real life, the family surrounding Michael and Ngozi can be nurturing, but they can also cut them to the quick with a fleeting phrase or action.

From Ngozi being told very matteroffactly that it is unlikely anyone will marry her, to Michael trying to deal with the wellmeant but ineffectual well wishers when he is stricken with grief, it highlights that while family is always there, sometimes they shape us in ways they may not mean to.


𝗡𝗴𝗼𝘇𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗷𝗮𝘄 𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗽𝘀. 𝗛𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀. 𝗜𝗺 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄. '

Setting and the passage of time is excellently portrayed by Amaka both in respect of scenesetting and atmosphere, but also with how the narrative moves from thes as the present, and shifts back to the past, where Michael and Ngozi's lineage began.


𝗔𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗠𝘀 𝗟𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘇 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱, 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝟭𝟵𝟴𝟭, 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗮 𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗼𝗶𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝘅𝘁𝗼𝗻. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝘂𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁, 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲. 𝗥𝘂𝗺𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗵𝘂𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻.

But while sad and distressing things may happen to Michael, Ngozi and the spirit of an African woman who recounts the past, this is not a depressing or negative book.
Instead, it is a book whose foundations are built on love, and hope, and the myriad of things that may happen in any one person's life.


𝗪𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗮𝘆. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗜 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗜 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗼 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀, 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲.

I would highly recommend The Book of Echoes to everyone, and would absolutely read more from Rosanna Amaka in the future.

The Book of Echoes is currently on sale forp on Kindle, so if you can, you should definitely get yourself a copy.