Voice of America

These are stories of Nigeria and of America, and of the frayed bonds that connect the two. Hostages are taken from an American expat bar. Attempts are made to get visas, and those who have succeeded return covered in wealth or in ignominy. Children are told tales of spirits who ride on horses and take bad little girls as their wives, but when hooves and flames do come to their house they are real enough. A man arrested at a brothel is posed as an armed robber by a corrupt police force. The radio station Voice of America brings a new pen pal, and some very high hopes, to a group of young men. This is a Nigeria of gossip and spells, of families and refugee camps, and Osondu makes it his own. Voice of America is a brilliantly original, deft and darkly funny book.