The Fishermen

Starred review from February 23, 2015
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.

March 1, 2015
Life changes dramatically for Benjamin, the fourth of six children, when his father, Eme, is transferred to the town of Yola by his employer, leaving his mother to raise him and his siblings back home in Akure, Nigeria in the 1990s.Adrift without their father's presence, Benjamin and his elder brothers, Ikenna, Boja, and Obembe, find a sense of purpose in fishing at Omi-Ala, the local river, where they have been forbidden to go because it's too dangerous. When their disobedience is discovered and swiftly punished, Eme encourages his sons to study harder at school and become "fishermen of the mind" rather than "the kind that fish at a filthy swamp." Thus adjured, the boys agree to devote themselves to their education. But after local madman Abulu curses Ikenna and claims he will be murdered by his brothers, Ikenna begins to act out-disobeying their harried mother, running away, getting drunk, and beating up Boja. Desperate, their mother counts the days until their father will return home and straighten the boy out. But before Eme's arrival, Ikenna is found dead after his most vicious fight with Boja yet. The family is speedily forced to reckon with the violence that has torn them apart, and the joy of childhood which permeates Obioma's lively, energetic debut novel thus swiftly becomes shadowed with the disturbing ghosts of Cain and Abel. Although Benjamin's first-person narration distances the reader from the emotional states of other characters at key moments-especially Benjamin's mother in the aftermath of so much loss-the talented Obioma exhibits a richly nuanced understanding of culture and character. A powerful, haunting tale of grief, healing, and sibling loyalty.

Starred review from March 15, 2015

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

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