BUTTERFLY FISH

430pp., paperback, Reprint, Jacaranda Books, London, (2015) 2023

ISBN: 9781914344114

Winner of the 2016 Betty Trask Award.

Joy, a vulnerable outsider living in London, is struggling after her mother’s sudden death, and finds herself drawn to a unique artefact inherited from her mother – a warrior’s head cast in brass that belonged to a king in eighteenth century Benin, Nigeria.

"A stunningly well-written book, juggling different timescales with great skill. Benin itself is vividly imagined in a historical narrative that runs in parallel with the contemporary London one. It is a wonderful novel." Simon Brett OBE

“Her West African heritage is richly spun into her novel Butterfly Fish ... The tale is peppered with moments of magical surrealism: a glass bottle shattering on a South London street to release two tiny scurrying figures into the night; a butterfly fish bursts into a local pool and belches a portentous brass key ... The lyrical prose brings poignancy to the familiar London landscape.” Samuel Fishwick, Evening Standard

Irenosen Okojie was born in Nigeria and moved to England aged eight. She is the author of the short story collection Speak Gigantular and the novel Nudibranch. She lives in London.