AN UNUSUAL GRIEF

240pp., paperback, Abuja, 2021

When her estranged daughter Yinka takes her own life, Mojisola leaves her husband behind in Cape Town and moves into her daughter’s apartment in Johannesburg in an attempt to better understand what happened.

"Omotoso is good on grief, trauma, families, loss – but when it comes to the way people in extremes of emotion still have to do the washing up, or the way people go back to difficult marriages, and lives take on patterns that become their defining themes, she’s outstanding ... a beautiful book that offers emotional truth to its readers, and a feeling of consolation for the imperfections we are all making our peace with, all the time." Barney Norris, The Guardian

“I am in awe of Omotoso’s talent ... in An Unusual Grief, Omotoso surprises, shocks and breaks your heart in equal measure. I am lucky to have read her books.” Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, author of Kintu and Manchester Happened

Yewande Omotoso was born in Barbados, grew up in Nigeria, and moved to South Africa with her family in 1992. She lives in Johannesburg. She is the author of the novels Bom Boy and The Woman Next Door. In 2012 she won the South African Literary Award for First-Time Published author.