This elegantly near-mythic debut novel from a Hopwood Award winner in fiction and poetry tells a deeply personal story that mirrors the larger social and political tensions in Africa. It opens with Father receiving a letter of transfer from his employer that will take him from Akure, Nigeria, to Yola. Because Yola is a dangerous place, he's leaving his five sons and one daughter home with his none-too-pleased wife. Shortly after he's gone, the four older brothers, including Benjamin, our narrator, slip the knot of Father's strictures and become fishermen at the filthy Omi-Ala river, considered a place of evil. There, they encounter the madman Abulu, who predicts that one brother will kill another. What follows is a downward spiral of fear and violence and revenge that nearly destroys a family. After discovering that his sons have been to the Omi-Ala, Father makes them promise that they will be fishermen of the mind, and though tragedy makes Benjamin a fisherman of a very different sort, in a redemptive flash at the end we see how he has kept his word. VERDICT Made vivid by the well-rendered specifics, Obioma's quietly unfolding story of family tragedy gathers strength as its cycle of violence spins faster and faster. All fiction readers will enjoy.—Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal

Seamlessly interweaving the everyday and the elemental, Obioma's strange, imaginative debut—the translation rights to which have been sold in 12 countries—probes the nature of belief and the power of family bonds. Set in 1990s Nigeria, it is narrated by Benjamin Agwu, who is nine when his father departs for a distant banking job, leaving his wife and six children behind in the village of Akure. Despite stern admonitions, the four oldest brothers soon test their mother's discipline. Their worst transgression is to fish in the Omi-Ala, a once-pure river that has become dirty and dangerous. There they encounter a mentally ill man named Abulu, who is locally believed to have powers of prophecy. Inexplicably, Abulu knows the eldest Agwu brother, Ikenna, by name. In a trance, he foretells the teenager's death in detail, adding that it will be at "the hands of a fisherman." Convinced that one of his brothers will kill him, Ikenna is enraged and destructive, isolating himself and throwing his home into chaos; ultimately, not just Ikenna but the whole family will be transformed by the power of Abulu's words. Obioma excels at juxtaposing sharp observation, rich images of the natural world, and motifs from biblical and tribal lore; his novel succeeds as a convincing modern narrative and as a majestic reimagining of timeless folklore. (Apr.)