(originally posted on April 2, 2006)
I dare you to start reading this novella and put it down. It's hardly comfortable reading, as Abani skillfully depicts Abigail's horrendous slide from young Nigerian schoolgirl to forced prostitute in London, and when redemption seems to come her way, it's replete with shattering consequences. But the writing is so lyrical, so understated, that it seduces the reader to keep on, to keep plumbing uncharted depths. It is, in short, a book that will be remembered for a long time to come.
