A review by balletbookworm
And After Many Days, by Jowhor Ile
4.0
Closer to a 3.75 star rating. I really liked the book's construction and how the reader kept getting bits and pieces of how the Utu family is connected or not connected to the political upheaval in Nigeria in the 1990s and whether Paul's disappearance is connected to those events. I wished, though, that Ile also included one or two chapters set between Ajie being brought home from school by his mother and the final epilogue-like three sections. I would have liked to see how Ajie and Bibi were impacted by the loss of their older brother as they finished school and went to college rather than see an end product at the end of the book.
As I was reading, I was reminded of Stewart O'Nan's [b:Songs for the Missing|3247408|Songs for the Missing|Stewart O'Nan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347318899s/3247408.jpg|3282191] in subject. The settings are quite different, obviously, but the way the "missing" child is presented within the family's life and how the families are both disrupted was similar.
As I was reading, I was reminded of Stewart O'Nan's [b:Songs for the Missing|3247408|Songs for the Missing|Stewart O'Nan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347318899s/3247408.jpg|3282191] in subject. The settings are quite different, obviously, but the way the "missing" child is presented within the family's life and how the families are both disrupted was similar.