A warm, tender and absolutely heartbeaking debut from a writer to watch.
THE FOOL
by Baba Ademoroti
Henry Holt, 2027
(via Neon Literary)
When Niyi learns that his 30-year-old son is gay, the discovery unmoors him, unlocking a burning need to re-examine his life. In a series of letters to his only son, Niyi lays bare his past, and the (supposed) clarity and wisdom on the page reveals more about Niyi than he has ever cared to acknowledge. Set across Nigeria, from Kano, in the north, to the bustling metropolis of Lagos, to an unnamed quiet war town in the deep south, The Fool asks the question: How can you make sense of a life if you came of age in a time and place without a language to speak your heart or a model to mirror your existence?
In the tradition of Gilead, The Remains of the Day, and On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, THE FOOL explores themes of place, masculinity and queerness, and the ensuing shockwaves when we are confronted with a starkly different way of being, after a life lived in instructed and familiar ways.
Baba Ademoroti, a Yoruba writer from Lagos, Nigeria, received an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and is pursuing a PhD at the University of Houston. His short fiction is forthcoming or has appeared in American Short Fiction, The Southern Review, AGNI, and in a special literary supplement selected and edited by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Harriet Lockhart never planned to marry. She has spent her life defying expectations, playing male roles on London’s seediest stages, and doing whatever she pleases. When Harry is contacted by her hitherto anonymous father, she finds herself at risk of losing the trust fund that’s subsidized her lifestyle—unless she begins to lead a more respectable life, starting with finding a husband.
Thirteen years ago, Providence Byrd threw the family car in reverse and ran over her mother. Even though her mother survived, that single instant of teenage madness made Providence a felon and irrevocably altered her life. When her mother disappears years later under suspicious circumstances, Providence tells herself that returning home is her chance to find closure after a prolonged estrangement from her family. Never mind that this is only half of the truth: she’s also returning to finally confront her abusive father, Tom Byrd. Nothing can stamp out Providence’s certainty that he is guilty of whatever terrible thing has happened to her mother.