Longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize A spellbinding novel about family secrets and bonds, thwarted hope and the brutal realities of life in a society rife with inequality. Featured in Stylist’s best fiction of 2023, Ay?`bámi Adébáy?`, the Women’s Prize shortlisted author of Stay With Me, unveils a dazzling story of modern Nigeria and two families caught in the riptides of wealth, power, romantic obsession and political corruption. ?ni?lá is tall for his age, a boy who looks like a man. His father has lost his job, so ?ni?lá spends his days running errands for the local tailor, collecting newspapers and begging, dreaming of a big future. Wúrà?lá is a golden girl, the perfect child of a wealthy family. Now an exhausted young doctor in her first year of practice, she is beloved by Kúnlé, the volatile son of family friends. When a local politician takes an interest in ?ni?lá and sudden violence shatters a family party, Wúrà?lá and ?ni?lá’s lives become intertwined. In this breathtaking novel, Ay?`bámi Adébáy?` shines her light on Nigeria, on the gaping divide between the haves and the have-nots, and the shared humanity that lives in-between.