Author: Shade Lapite

When The New Mrs Collins moves to town terror follows

Published by

Leena has been looking forward to marrying the father of her child since he proposed on bended knee during a vacation in Myrtle Beach. Now the big day has arrived, Leena looks beautiful in her wedding dress, the church is packed with her loved ones, and happily-ever-after is barely a few “I dos” away. Except Leena’s fiancé never makes it to the church. It turns out he’s fallen in love with another woman. A beautiful, poised, accomplished woman called Adira. And instead of running away, shamefaced, Leena’s cheating fiancé moves Adira into town and quickly marries her. It’s a combustible situation, especially in a small, Southern town where people make a point of knowing (and sharing) their neighbours’ business. Leena, hurt and humiliated, cannot let the betrayal go. But when she goes looking for dirt on Adira she uncovers secrets better left hidden and soon understands that it doesn’t pay to anger the new Mrs Collins. Quanie Miller’s Southern Paranormal novel is a fantastically fun read. The narrative tugs you into the close-knit town of …

Black girls find magic in 32 Candles

Published by

When I described the opening of 32 Candles to a friend –poor, dark-skinned, black teen obsessed with John Hughes films and their happy endings dreams about being the star of her own fairy tale romance – my friend said: “That sounds like a book about you.” I chose not to take offence to her comment, after all, it’s 95% true. I love the novel’s lead character Davie Jones because like me she grew up on Pretty In Pink and The Breakfast Club and harboured the quiet hope that one day a gorgeous, charismatic guy would recognise the light hiding under her bushel and whisk her away from her hum-drum life. Unlike Davie Jones I did not grow up in Nowhere, Mississippi, the daughter of an alcoholic mother. I did not spend most of my childhood a selective mute after a traumatising incident. I was not called Monkey Night by colour-struck classmates. And I never made a play for the most popular boy town that went so badly wrong I was forced to flee town in …

Louisiana life is bittersweet in Queen Sugar

Published by

Charley Bordelon is a widow and single-mother. When she inherits a sugarcane farm from her father she opts to leave her failed life in LA behind, pack up and move in with her grandmother in Louisiana. Unbeknownst to Charley her grandmother has also invited her half-brother, Ralph Angel, to stay – a bitter man angry at being excluded from his father’s will. As tensions escalate at home, Charley must also contend with a host of problems on her new farm. Between the acres of neglected and dying crop and her hostile neighbours both black and white, she soon wonders if this is a feat she can pull off. The notion of a black woman owning a sugarcane farm in the Deep South a century after The Great Migration lends itself wholly to drama and conflict. When you throw in a bunch of charismatic relatives the stakes get even higher and the end result is highly compelling. I found Charley flawed and relatable and could only admire her tenacity: “She joined the crew, pulling armloads of …

Malorie Blackman calls for more diversity in publishing

Published by

I was startled to read a tweet today saying Malorie Blackman had closed her Twitter account after a deluge of racist messages. Here’s what happened. The Edinburgh International Books Festival was held last weekend and in her capacity as children’s laureate Malorie Blackman did the media rounds talking up UK books, but also highlighting the lack of ethnic diversity in children’s publishing. She told Sky News that a lack of diversity in books can discourage children of colour from reading and make them feel excluded: “I think there is a very significant message that goes out when you cannot see yourself at all in the books you are reading. “I think it is saying ‘well, you may be here, but do you really belong?” A sub editor at Sky decided to title the story with the provocative and inaccurate headline: Children’s Books ‘Have Too Many White Faces’ says Malorie Blackman, which was all the invitation the internet trolls needed. Malorie received an avalanche of racist criticism on her Twitter feed. And responses to the story …

Sun, sex and scandal in Black Diamond

Published by

A set of twin babies wind up in a South African orphanage after their parents are killed. Lola is strong and beautiful and quickly adopted by a famous American actress. Grace is sickly and expected to die. She survives and is eventually adopted by an abusive church pastor and taken to live in England. The sisters grow into women as different as their new homes, Lola follows the Lindsay Lohan Guide to Celebrity Living, dating all the wrong guys, drinking like a fish and stumbling through one scandal after another. Grace is overweight, timorous and unlucky in love. What will happen when their worlds collide? Will they find love and happiness? And, can they survive the secrets of their past? While reading the first few chapters of Black Diamond I found myself doing that yelling-at-the-TV thing. Both Grace and Lola start out naïve, immature, manipulated by the people in their worlds. They learn every lesson the hard way (despite my yelled warnings) and it’s tough to watch them trusting and losing again and again. The …

8 Fantastic Book Quotes

Published by

Sometimes you read a novel and you come across a sentence, a phrase, a thought, and it gives you pause. Maybe the author has used language in a unique/unusual way or revealed a character so sharply they’ve leapt up and become corporeal. Or maybe the line has resonated so deeply you see your own life in the words. When I have those moments I reread. And reread. Then wonder who I can share the words with. So I’m sharing them here. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Nicole Amarteifio talks sex and African cities

Published by

Since it launched in March 2014, the web series An African City has attracted thousands of online viewers and scored a ton of critical acclaim for its bold approach to sex, its multifaceted female protagonists and its dazzling aesthetic. I spoke to the show’s creator and writer, Nicole Amarteifio about her creative process, feminism and what it takes to fulfill a dream.   I was born here in Ghana. But shortly after the December ‘81 coup my family decided to leave. First we went to England, then after about seven years we moved to America where I spent most of my life. Even as a child growing up in America I always knew that I wanted to go home, and home was Ghana. So shortly after college I made the move back.   I remember one of my first bosses out of college, she loved my writing. It gave me that confidence, that bounce in my step. I started writing poetry and poetry turned into a chapter of a novel. When I was in grad …

Summer Reading Black List

Published by

It’s summer. Unless you’re truly unlucky you have a few days of freedom coming up. While you’re lounging in the sunshine, sipping on that Mai Tai, you should read a book. Here are five fantastic suggestions: Kabu Kabu by Nnedi Okorafor A young woman, desperate to catch her flight out of Chicago’s O’Hare accepts a lift from an illegal Nigerian taxi, a kabu kabu. Never mind that the taxi is far from its proper environs. She soon finds herself sharing the ride with a procession of unusual and unsettling characters. Award winning-author Okorafor deftly combines everyday life with African folklore, juju fantasy and mystical realism to produce a remarkable collection of short stories. Debbie Doesn’t Do It Anymore by Walter Mosley After starring in hundreds of films, super porn-star Debbie Dare has been disillusioned for a long time and is starting to phone it in. Then, one day, not only does she unexpectedly pass out having the most intense orgasm of her life (and first in years) while filming a scene, she also returns home …

The problem with Ghana Must Go

Published by

Taiye Selasi’s Ghana Must Go is not a page-turner. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, sometimes it helps to take breaks while reading a book, it gives you the mental space to process the themes and concepts. That said, it took me over six months to finish this novel and I eventually did so not out of a compulsive desire to know the outcome, but out of obligation to my book club. The story opens when Kwaku Sai, once a feted Boston surgeon, suffers a heart attack in his garden in Accra. He dies alone, regretful of his estrangement from his family. His departure sends ripples across the country to Sade, the wife he abandoned decades before, and over the ocean to his four children in America. Slowly, his death reunites the disjointed family and exposes the issues that drove them apart. The writing is magnificent. Selasi explores family and love and guilt and forgiveness finding the words to ground intangible emotions and experiences. But is it too magnificent? Many a time I found myself …