Ayobami Adebayo, author of the novel Stay with Me, was selected for the Wellcome Book Prize of £ 30,000, organizers said.
Stay with Me is the first novel by the Nigerian author, which the New York Times describes as a "breathtaking first novel."
Adebayo, 30, is the only African author on the long list of 12 titles for the British literary prize.
The long list of the Wellcome Book Award 2018 celebrates the many ways in which literature can shed light on the breadth and depth of humanity's relationship with health, medicine and disease.
The 12 books chosen cover popular science, memory, lyrical meditation and medical history.
The list of finalists will be announced on Tuesday, March 20th, with the winner announced at a ceremony on Monday, April 30 at the Wellcome Collection.
Ayobami holds a BA and MA in Literature from Obafemi Awolowo University in Ife and has been working as a writer for Saraba magazine since 2009. She was one of the most admired authors of the 2009 Commonwealth Short Film Competition.
Here is a review of the book by Wellcome Book Prize:
This Nigerian debut is the heart-breaking tale of what wanting a child can do to a person, a marriage and a family; a powerful and vivid story of what it means to love not wisely but too well.
Yejide is hoping for a miracle, for a child. It is all her husband wants, all her mother-in-law wants, and she has tried everything – arduous pilgrimages, medical consultations, appeals to God. But when her relatives insist upon a new wife, it is too much for Yejide to bear. It will lead to jealousy, betrayal and despair.
Unravelling against the social and political turbulence of 1980s Nigeria, ‘Stay With Me’ sings with the voices, colours, joys and fears of its surroundings. Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ weaves a devastating story of the fragility of married love, the undoing of family, the wretchedness of grief, and the all-consuming bonds of motherhood. It is a tale about our desperate attempts to save ourselves and those we love from heartbreak.
Räägi sõbrale... #AFRICA ... spill TEA ABOUT THE TOPIC ABOVE.... Easy on Shade #jaiyeorie
This Nigerian debut is the heart-breaking tale of what wanting a child can do to a person, a marriage and a family; a powerful and vivid story of what it means to love not wisely but too well.
Yejide is hoping for a miracle, for a child. It is all her husband wants, all her mother-in-law wants, and she has tried everything – arduous pilgrimages, medical consultations, appeals to God. But when her relatives insist upon a new wife, it is too much for Yejide to bear. It will lead to jealousy, betrayal and despair.
Unravelling against the social and political turbulence of 1980s Nigeria, ‘Stay With Me’ sings with the voices, colours, joys and fears of its surroundings. Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ weaves a devastating story of the fragility of married love, the undoing of family, the wretchedness of grief, and the all-consuming bonds of motherhood. It is a tale about our desperate attempts to save ourselves and those we love from heartbreak.
Räägi sõbrale... #AFRICA ... spill TEA ABOUT THE TOPIC ABOVE.... Easy on Shade #jaiyeorie
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