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City of Memories by Richard Ali
C ity of Memories, a debut novel by Richard Ali, follows Faruk Ibrahim, his father, his lover and her mother as they negotiate peculiar Nigerian traumas. Towering above them is the story of Ummi al-Qassim, a princess of Bolewa, and the feud, madness and death that attend her first love affairs. All four are bracketed by the modern city of Jos in central Nigeria, where political supremacy and perverse parental love become motives for ethno-religious crisis designed to destroy the Nigerian State. "(City of Memories) is an epic journey about identity, political and religious affiliations and above all, mistrust." - Alison Locke, author of Maysun and the Wingfish. "(City of Memories) is a fine attempt to witness and step up to collective memory. It is as much about a triumphant love affair as it is about a nation at the brink of collapse." - Emmanuel Iduma, publisher, Saraba Magazine.
"(City of Memories) tackles the big question of what love really means, set during the time of religious and ethnic upheavals in Northern-Central Nigeria. A beautiful book of self-discovery by a young author to watch." - A. M. Bakalar, author of Madame Mephisto.
„(City of Memories) is a fine attempt to witness and step up to collective memory. It is as much about a triumphant love affair as it is about a nation at the brink of collapse.”
Emmanuel Iduma, publisher, Saraba Magazine.
S
n this book, the first of its kind in Nigerian literature, Richard Ali mirrors how religion has become a weapon for people with a lust for contemporary relevance and political power. The warring sides in this book are armed in one hand by a sword and a holy book (Bible or Quran), and in the other hand by love. Against a backdrop of ethno-religious sentiments and political skirmishes, Richard Ali makes love the central theme in this book. Beautiful: the love between Eunice Pam and her daughter Rahila, between Ibrahim Dibarama and Faruk, between Rahila and Faruk, then, a different type of love is introduced by a virtuous Bolewa maiden, Maryam Bazaar, a love more fated than Romeo and Juliet’s.
But, that is not all that there is to love in City of memories, our story begins from the little town of Bolewa, a town which has somehow managed to discard a history which otherwise should be haunting.
