An Oprah Daily Best Book of February
Set between Nigeria and New Orleans, The Edge of Water tells the story of a young woman who dreams of life in America, as the collision of traditional prophecy and individual longing tests the bonds of a family during a devastating storm.
In Ibadan, Nigeria, a mother receives a divination that foretells danger for her daughter in America. In spite of this warning, she allows her to forge her own path, and Amina arrives in New Orleans filled with hope. But just as Amina begins to find her way, a hurricane threatens to destroy the city, upending everything she’d dreamed of and the lives of all she holds dear. Years later, her daughter is left with questions about the mother she barely knew, and the family she has yet to discover in Nigeria.
Exploring the love of a determined mother and dreaming daughter who do not say enough to each other until it is too late, the detangling of Yoruba Christianity, traditional religion, and folklore, and the tellings of three generations of daring women—through times of longing, promise, and romance, as well as heartbreak—Olufunke Grace Bankole’s The Edge of Water is a luminous debut novel about a young woman brave enough to leave all she knows behind, and the way her fate transforms a family destined to stay together.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Set between Nigeria and New Orleans, The Edge of Water tells the story of a young woman who dreams of life in America, as the collision of traditional prophecy and individual longing tests the bonds of a family during a devastating storm.
In Ibadan, Nigeria, a mother receives a divination that foretells danger for her daughter in America. In spite of this warning, she allows her to forge her own path, and Amina arrives in New Orleans filled with hope. But just as Amina begins to find her way, a hurricane threatens to destroy the city, upending everything she’d dreamed of and the lives of all she holds dear. Years later, her daughter is left with questions about the mother she barely knew, and the family she has yet to discover in Nigeria.
Exploring the love of a determined mother and dreaming daughter who do not say enough to each other until it is too late, the detangling of Yoruba Christianity, traditional religion, and folklore, and the tellings of three generations of daring women—through times of longing, promise, and romance, as well as heartbreak—Olufunke Grace Bankole’s The Edge of Water is a luminous debut novel about a young woman brave enough to leave all she knows behind, and the way her fate transforms a family destined to stay together.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"An artfully constructed, beautifully told, and utterly moving book. A thrilling debut." - Jami Attenberg
"The Edge of Water is a beautifully realized epic tale following the lives of three generations of women across two continents. Bankole expertly explores tenderness and heartache without sentimentality. This is a stunning addition to the canon of diasporic tales." - Maurice Carlos Ruffin
"In exploring what happens when we reject our given paths, The Edge of Water asks the deepest questions of us. Olufunke Grace Bankole's marginalized characters navigate heartbreak and hardship within communities that dehumanize them, but Bankole restores their humanity on the page in ways that reshaped me. Despite seeming trapped by adversity, they refuse to passively accept their fates; in this story, survival is not merely a physical question but also a spiritual one. I was gripped by this brilliant and fascinating take on Greek tragedy, employing Yoruba mythology, finding it both humbling and extraordinary, elegiac and inspiriting. Bankole moves from truth to shattering truth giving her characters the empathy and attention we all deserve. I savored every line of the arresting prose and ended this book yearning for more from this incredibly talented writer." - Vanessa Walters
"The Edge of Water is a beautifully realized epic tale following the lives of three generations of women across two continents. Bankole expertly explores tenderness and heartache without sentimentality. This is a stunning addition to the canon of diasporic tales." - Maurice Carlos Ruffin
"In exploring what happens when we reject our given paths, The Edge of Water asks the deepest questions of us. Olufunke Grace Bankole's marginalized characters navigate heartbreak and hardship within communities that dehumanize them, but Bankole restores their humanity on the page in ways that reshaped me. Despite seeming trapped by adversity, they refuse to passively accept their fates; in this story, survival is not merely a physical question but also a spiritual one. I was gripped by this brilliant and fascinating take on Greek tragedy, employing Yoruba mythology, finding it both humbling and extraordinary, elegiac and inspiriting. Bankole moves from truth to shattering truth giving her characters the empathy and attention we all deserve. I savored every line of the arresting prose and ended this book yearning for more from this incredibly talented writer." - Vanessa Walters
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