Sankofa

By: Chibundu Onuzo

Narrated by: Sara Powell

A Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick

A BBC 2 Between the Covers Book Club pick

Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction Futures Prize

An Amazon Best Book of the Year

Shortlisted, The Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, 2022

Anna is at a stage of her life when she's beginning to wonder who she really is. She has separated from her husband, her daughter is all grown up and her mother—the only parent who raised her—is dead.

Searching through her mother's belongings, she finds clues about the West African father she never knew. Through reading his student diary, chronicling his involvement in radical politics in 1970s London, she discovers that he eventually became the president—some would say the dictator—of a small nation in West Africa. And he is still alive.

She decides to track him down and so begins a funny, painful, fascinating journey, and an exploration of race, identity and what we pass on to our children.

©2021 Chibundu Onuzo (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

"A fantastic novel about a woman's search for her personal, familial and national identity." (Sefi Atta)

"Wonderful. Poignant and powerful and so timely and the beautiful ending had me in tears, reminding me to look within as well as without for my answers." (Stella Duffy)

"Slick pacing and unpredictable developments keep the reader alert right up to the novel's exhilarating ending." (Guardian Book of the Day)

Lovely unusual story, beautifully narrated

I really enjoyed this story, I found it novel, and sincerely written, narrated with feeling and very easy to listen to

Beautiful performance and story telling.

I loved the story and amazing performance. This book is written so well, a beautiful story.

Story was an adventure, great performance by narrator

The Story was a lovely adventure with a different perspective to African dictators through a fresh lense. It was enjoyable. Great performance by the narrator. I like stories with a strong opening and this had that. Was a bit slow in the beginning but something interesting to anticipate from early on so it captured my attention. 3.5 maybe 4/5.