Louisa Onomé’s adult debut, Pride and Joy, is not your average grief story. It’s more like a literary adaption of the 2010 movie Death at a Funeral. Protagonist Joy Okafor is a dutiful Nigerian daughter. And like a good daughter, she’s throwing her Mama Mary an Easter weekend-long family getaway party for her 70th birthday. Just before the guests arrive, however, Mary lays down for a nap and doesn’t wake up. Faced with having to turn Mary’s party into a wake, Joy must first negotiate around her Auntie Nancy, who captures the attention of spectators, influencers, and one very curious reporter by claiming she’s had a premonition that Mary will rise again in three days.
This novel is for fans of dark, laugh-out-loud family dramas. Onomé’s flawed characters are wonderfully relatable and wildly entertaining. And the book’s themes of obligation and familial connection will captivate readers just as much as the mystery surrounding Nancy’s premonition, which sounds so genuine, one can’t help but wonder if it might just come true.
Image Via Atria Books
