A mixed-race British woman learns some astonishing things about her father Anna is a middle-aged British woman of mixed race heritage. Her mother is Welsh, and her father, she learns, is African. When her mother dies she comes across a diary her father had kept when her parents were young lovers in 70s London. He describes their early meeting, when he was lodging at her parents' house, their subsequently brief romance, and his sudden fleeing back to his native country of Bamana. Her mother had told her very little of her biological father, but now armed with his diary, Anna desperately wants to learn more. When he was a student living in London, Anna’s father went by the name Francis Aggrey. He joined radical student groups committed to fighting British imperialism, meeting in dingy backrooms to plan a more glorious future. Francis experiences a lot of racism on the streets of London and carries a certain amount of justified rage. Upon his return to Bamana, he adopts the name Kofi Adjei, and eventually becomes the country’s president for 30 years, in reality its dictator. The more Anna discovers, the more her head spins. With her marriage in a state of hopeless disrepair, and her adult daughter striking out her own independent path, she decides to search out her father. She makes an uncertain trip, with a few dodgy contacts helping her along the way. Sankofa is Nigerian novelist Chibundu Onuzo’s third novel. Unlike it’s witty and often farcical predecessor, Welcome to Lagos, this new book takes a more serious turn. Discussing mixed race identities, British imperialism, racism and African politics, among other things, Sankofa is a page-turning read, despite the heavy themes. Onuzo has a gift for observation and distilling complex ideas into the easily digestible. For readers wanting to explore the impact Europeans have had on Africa, the resultant political and cultural legacy, Sankofa offers an entertaining primer and an emotionally satisfying story of a woman’s discovery of her truer self. Sankofa, by Chibundu Onuzo. Published by Virago. $32.99 Review by Chris Saliba Comments are closed.
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