Happiness, Like Water

In Happiness, Like Water Chinelo Okparanta offers a portrait of Nigeria that is surprising, shocking, heartrending, loving. As Daniyal Mueenuddin brought us everyday Pakistan with In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, so Okparanta brings us life across social strata, dealing in every kind of change.

Among her characters are a young woman faced with a dangerous decision to save her mother, children slick with oil from the river, a woman in love with another despite the penalties. Their world is marked by electricity outages, lush landscapes, folktales, littered roads, Land Rovers, buses that break down and never start up again. They fight their mothers and their husbands, their own shame and their own sexuality, the power of religion and the pull of love.

These are startling, challenging stories filled with language to make your eyes pause and your throat catch. Happiness, Like Water introduces an astonishing talent, a young writer with a beautiful heart and a capacious imagination.