A new novel from Wole Soyinka prize-winning author of Everything Good
Will Come.
Lagos, January 1976, six years after the Nigerian Civil War. A new
military regime has been in power for six months, but rumors are
spreading that a countercoup is imminent. At an art exhibition in the
affluent Ikoyi neighborhood, Remi Lawal, a Nigerian woman who runs her
own greeting-card shop, meets Frances Cooke, who introduces herself as
an American art dealer, in Nigeria to buy rare beads. They become
friends and over the next few weeks confide in each other about their
aspirations, loyalties, marriage, motherhood?and Nigeria itself, as
hospitable Remi welcomes the enigmatic Frances into her world.
Remi's husband, Tunde, naturally suspects Frances--like any American in
Lagos--of gathering intelligence for the CIA, yet she is unconvinced.
Cynical about the country's unending instability, and alienated by the
shallowness of the city's elite, she willingly shares her views with
Frances. But the February 13 assassination of General Muhammed prompts
Remi to reconsider one particular conversation with her new acquaintance
in a different light. Her discouragement overcome by a reawakened sense
of patriotism, she begins to doubt that the bead collector is who she
claims to be.
With her signature subtlety and wit, Sefi Atta recasts the international
espionage tale by bringing the intrigue and politics of family life to
the fore. The story of a brief friendship, The Bead Collector reveals
one Nigerian mother's yearning--amid legacies of conflict and
uncertainty--to help build her country from home.
