Bom Boy

by Yewande Omotoso

Leke is a troubled young man living in the suburbs of Cape Town. He develops strange habits of stalking people, stealing small objects and going from doctor to doctor in search of companionship rather than cure. Through a series of letters written to him by his Nigerian father whom he has never met, Leke learns about a family curse; a curse which his father had unsuccessfully tried to remove. Bom Boy is a well-crafted, and complex narrative written with a sensitive understanding of both the smallness and magnitude of a single life.

Genres: Africa, Fiction, South Africa, Nigeria, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Cultural

266 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 21, 2011

About the author

YEWANDE OMOTOSO was born in Barbados and grew up in Nigeria, moving to South Africa with her family in 1992. Trained as an Architect she is the author of Bom Boy (Modjaji Books, 2011) which won the South African Literary Award for First-Time Published Author and was shortlisted for the South African Sunday Times Fiction Prize. In 2013 she was a finalist in the the inaugural, pan-African Etisalat Fiction Prize. Her second novel The Woman Next Door (Chatto and Windus, 2016) was longlisted for the Bailey's Women Prize and shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award. An Unusual Grief (Cassava Republic, 2022) is Omotoso's third novel. Omotoso works as a Storytelling Advisor with Greenpeace International and lives in Johannesburg.

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5★

This was my first time reading Omotoso, and I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't perfect, but I liked it well enough to pick up another of her titles to read soon. Chosen for the Cape Town setting, Bom Boy gave me some interesting food for thought about race, spirituality and family, as well as the South African location.

Leke (lay-kay) was adopted by a white couple after being abandoned by his birth mother. He grows up very close to his adoptive mother but always had a desire for more (attention, time, love) from her husband, Marcus. So when his mother dies he becomes a very withdrawn, lonely boy. This continues on into his adult life where a spontaneous workplace blood donation gives him an idea of how to connect with other people. Soon he is attending regular medical appointments, although there is nothing wrong with his body - it is his soul that is starved. When Leke enters his 3rd decade, Marcus gives him a cache of letters written by his birth father, explaining where he comes from and the curse that has troubled his family for generations.

The story is told in 3 alternating time periods; 1992 around the time of Leke's birth, 2002 when his adoptive mother died, and 2012 when Leke is beginning to forge his adult life and identity with a new home and job. It took me a little while to understand how these periods fit together at first, as the characters populating them were different and the connections not immediately obvious. But the beauty of the storytelling is seeing them all come together and gel into a cohesive story. There are certain things that didn't work for me (the kleptomania for example didn't really seem to lead anywhere) but the thruline of the story is strong and the writing is wonderful.

[Read In Colour · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me quite a while to figure out who the characters were and which era they belonged to. The author doesn't prepare readers for the characters/time period switches initially and it was so confusing. I also was unable to connect with any of the characters, which was disappointing because I enjoyed the characters in the author's previous work, The Woman Next Door.

[Ken · Rating 2 out of 5]

Have you ever watched the TV Show Mr Robot? If yes, then you have a pretty good idea of the main character in this book. Frustratingly reticent, socially awkward.I have not read anything else by Omotoso, but this particular book did not really do it for me. The cover screams out that it was shortlisted for this and that, and is a prize winning text. OK. Tastes differ, I guess.
Why didn't I like the book?
1. There is something formulaic about the way Omotoso drags the story on, just keeping key plot turns out of reach until a specific number of words have been written. What I mean it, there are some revelations that I as a reader felt were being unnecessarily delayed (I will not go into details in order to keep this spoiler-free).
2. The book is the story of a young man named Leke, but Omotoso attempts to make it the story of so many more people (one of whom writes in epistolary mode [brilliant move, that. It definitely works]). However, one begns to feel that the cast is too large, for a book this short.
3. There is a bit of love/passion thrown in towards the end. Totally unnecessary, and appears rather forced.
4. The mythical/supernatural angle, with sangomas etc, could have been better developed. There is mention of a curse, that one of the characters attempts to break (OK, now I am spoiling the story). The author could have deliberately meant for the resolution of this curse to be unclear, but its treatment in this novel left me rather dissatisfied.

I am always ready to admit that what I don't like, someone else might.

[Wathingira Gituro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I just discovered a favourite new author... which is poignant because the only reason I bought this book was because the bookseller insisted - practically shoving it into my arms, and the only reason I picked it up was because I needed a light read to shrug off what remains of my reading slump!

I'm glad to report that this book hit the sweet spot.

Lake is plagued by deep loneliness, a sense of not belonging, but wanting to feel loved... something other than the heaviness that occupies and swallows his life. So he develops a habit of stealing things from people. Tiny things - I guess in an attempt to fill the hole in the middle of his soul.

But, despite the blurb (and my description above), it is also a story about Leke's fathers and mothers (read the book to decipher the plural). About his relationship or lack thereof with them, and their relationships with each other. Told over 3 time spans (which is a little confusing at first but quickly makes sense), we are given a deeply layered study of family history, love and sacrifice.

Mixed in all this is African Spirituality (Nigerian and South African) that is not presented as an exotic 'other' but as normal as mainstream Spirituality (read modern organised religion) which I completely stan! Absolutely beautifully done!!

The book is a proper character study and while there is a loose plot, I wouldn't focus too much on that. Allow yourself to get carried away by the beautiful simple prose, and the beautiful way Ms. Omotoso tackles loneliness.

Bom Boy is definitely worth your time!!

[Kathe Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bom Boy by Yewande Omotoso
Another great read by a South African writer. Leke’s father, Oscar, a man from Nigeria arrives in South Africa to study molecular science. Meets African girl, Elaine, who bears him a son (Leke) but unfortunately he (Oscar) is arrested and sent to jail and never gets to raise his son. He writes letters to Leke, (Bom Boy is pidgin for baby boy) and it is through these letters that Leke discovers the curse that has been placed on his family. Oscar in jail and Elaine finds herself unable to care for him and gives him to a white couple to raise which leaves him confused and angry Great plot. Well written and was on the shortlisted for the Etisalat Prize for African literature 2014.

[Sipho Lukhele · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved how this book was written. A story of a family curse that is told through a series of letters. It was not hurried and the writing is simply beautiful. I was exposed to other parts of Cape Town, that I could see through the words.

The chapters move from the present and past while linking the story beautifully. If you are curious about the spiritual world and believe in the notion of "black magic", then you are going to love this book.

[Paige Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

So lovely. I really enjoyed it.

[Puleng Hopper · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story follows the life of Leke, from childhood until adulthood. He was born of a Nigerian father and a South African coloured woman. He was adopted by a white couple, his mom could not take care of him and his father was in jail. Leke grows up as a recluse and misfit forever grappling with solitude and struggling to belong. Fighting a generational curse cast on his dad's family.

I found the book boring and flat in tone. Many a times I contemplated dumping it. It was the masochist in me that kept me going.

The beginning was slow and not captivating, It was only towards page forty that the pieces of the puzzle started falling into place. The structure was confusing, the author vacillated from different eras.

Events were dragged. The narration was long winded. There were moments of aimless rambling with no clear objective nor direction. It was like driving a car at twenty kilometres per hour , no GPS and no specific destination. Omotoso said in an interview " Bom Boy was my first attempt at something novel length" She had previously done poetry and short stories.

I could not connect with most characters especially Leke the protagonist .Child protagonists are normally adorable , appealing and evoke all sorts of emotions. I remember books like "We Need New Names" by Noviolet Bulawayo, "Nervous Condition" by Tsitsi Dangaremba, and "Thirteen Cents" by Sello Duiker " Not in this book. Leke experiences major tragedy in his ten years on earth. He did not know his real parents. He experiences two deaths of close family members. Strangely I was not affected . I felt zilch compassion for Leke. As an adult he becomes less appealing , filthy, unkempt and behaves strangly . His interactions with Tsotso were surreal.

Omotoso failed to transport me emotionally and otherwise. Her writing is direct and devoid of emotion. Note how she relates a first sex encounter, "Elaine locked the office door. Oscar kissed her neck and breasts . She sat astride him and they made love " No foreplay . No emotion. Nothing steamy.

There were some characters whose significance in the story was not clear to me. I wondered what their purpose was. The semi blind shopkeeper with the dog .Lekes's landlord and Tsotso's grand mother.

Tsotso , Genes and Tsotso's grandmother were introduced too late , as if an after thought, a filler. I momentarily loved Jane but she was killed off. It did not make sense to me that Leke was not keen on tracing his biological mother who was still alive, as opposed to focusing only on the deceased biological father . There was also Malcolm Feather who makes a brief naked appearance and then dies.

Bom Boy was shortlisted for the Etisalat Price For Africa in 2014. I enjoyed Omotoso's second offering "The Woman Next Door" 2016. Some people loved Bom Boy , but, I regret to inform that I did not feel it. Maybe it is the proverbial, it is not you but me. At some point I suspected mental illness in Leke, when it only took love from a girl to cure him , I discounted it.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

a little direction less, but it was a nice character study. I feel that the generational curse could have been utilized more, and Lèké's kleptomania could have had more significance.

[Ibiene Bidiaque · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a little difficult to write this review because Bomboy is like no other novel I have read. It has elements of the supernatural, the spiritual and superstitions; it tells of the effects mental health, sickness, lack and abuse can have on families.

We follow the life of Leke, a young man who doubles as an IT programmer during the day and a kleptomaniac at night. Since his adoptive mother’s death when he was a boy, life took on an even lesser meaning and he navigates (and we with him) through his days; avoiding his adoptive father, working, taking long walks, moping around his garage-flat and the mall where he stakes out his victims.

I took me a while to get into the swing of the novel but when I did, I could not put it down. I wish Omotoso (or her editor) had taken more care with the placements of punctuation and quotation marks, but other than that, it was brilliant.

[Tiah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plan to highlight on blog. Will post the link to the post sometime next week. Edited: Here is the link: http://tiahbeautement.typepad.com/tra...

[Tylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Six stars.

[Tapsy Tapsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bomboy is the sort of book that allows you to assume what it is about based on its title. They tell you to never judge a book by its cover, but they should also tell you not to judge it by its title.

The story is told in two timelines which at first, can be confusing. However, once you get the tone of the characters, switching between timelines is easy. This is woven in with a love story from the past, as well as letters from a father to his child.

As a black child adopted by white parents, we see Leke as a weird character from the get-go, withdrawn and misunderstood both as a child and as an adult. Even though it’s easy to see reasons for Leke’s strangeness in his childhood (issues such as identity and the loss of a loved one), it creeps into his adult life and there, the reasons don’t seem as clear until the end of the book.

The letters written in the book often tell magical tales of stories from Nigeria. While the letters are great to read, some of them seem to have no purpose at all as they are short and end abruptly, without the feeling of a conclusion. This was a problem for me, as well as the main character's boring life. I would go so far as to say that he actually was the least interesting character in the book. Bom Boy’s story is one that really, is quite sad but somehow you don’t notice just how sad it is till the story is wrapped up. I think the ending was beautiful. Despite the sadness of the story, the ending shows that not all sad stories end sadly, you can find a rainbow after the rain.

Yewande’s writing style is easy and sweet to read. She’s able to paint pictures that are clear to see whether she talks about the song of a bird, the smell of flowers or even the vividness of a nightmare. I also liked how smoothly she was able to jump between timelines and capture the essence of both the Nigerian and South African cultures of the time.

I give this book 3.5 stars!

[Leago Litx_Space · Rating 5 out of 5]

A family curse. A divided identity. The familiar sites of sunny South Africa... This book had it all for me! I was lucky enough to hear Yewande Omotoso give a talk about her debut novel to our second year English class and having heard her own experiences just gave the already personable book an extra special touch.

Bom Boy is a title that one particularly needs to focus on, mainly due to the achronological temporal setting (just remember the dates, very important). The theme of where one comes from versus where one is going, is a recurring trope that ties both present and past together to paint a rather precarious vision of our protagonists future.

At first glance Leke (pron Lay-kay) is your average, ordinary, everyday wallflower as being the black adopted child to white parents in the city of Cape Town. However throughout the novel we're introduced to more sinister and supernatural reasons for Leke's unfortunate inability to connect with other people.

Such a captivating and gut-wrenching read, really representing South Africa and the continent well 👏🏾

[Gabrielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have had this book on my list for a while and was eager to read it especially after the less than stellar review I wrote of Omotoso's other book. The novel centers on Leke - a confused and awkward young man. The story is told through Leke's present day actions like hypochondria, thievery, and stalking and meshed with letters his father (whom he has never met) wrote to him as a baby. The novel was captivating from the beginning - I love books told through multiple perspectives with epistolary elements, but it quickly lost its luster. The novel became as confused as its character about mid-way through - I am not sure if this was the author's intentional technique. The book unfortunately never redeemed itself. I am convinced that this author could be much more engaging as a short story writer as her plots are intriguing but cannot be carried as full novels.

[Mapitsi Makola · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did you know Bom Boy is pidgin English for Baby Boy? This is honestly the only thing this book did for me.
The first 50 or so pages were really promising, however, all that carried me from there to page 196 was hope (a hopefully being I am😏)
This book has interesting elements that didn’t quite come together, I wasn’t prepared for the time-period switch thus I was completely thrown off. At a point I found myself rereading a page three times, I was convinced I’m the problem. I really wanted to love this book😩.

If you are for complex books that have you scratching your head then this is for you.

[Allan Farmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es una novela compleja porque tiene un inicio confuso: cartas de diferentes fechas mezcladas con relatos de la vida "presente". Eso fue lo que en un inicio me hizo abandonar su lectura.

Sin embargo, la retomé y me dí a la tarea de comprender que relataba: la historia de Leke vista desde diferentes perspectivas y épocas.

Esta bien escrita. La forma de narrar me agradó. Conocí un poco más pero el protagonista, Leke, es absolutamente detestable. Cae mal con cada decisión.

Lo leí porque la autora nació en Bárbados.

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a difficult book to rate. Part of my reaction was tainted by the fact that there was a fair amount of vocabulary I didn't understand. That said, I loved the main character, Leke. He was so innocent, so sensitive, so vulnerable. All of his parents loved him so much in such different ways. He tried so hard to figure it all out, and in the end, I'm not sure he did, but I think he got closer. Maybe I liked this better than I thought I did. Hmmm

[Renee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have heard this author speak at Literary Festivals and she’s terrific, so I was really looking forward to reading this book. I am most disappointed. I couldn’t wait to finish it. I found quite a bit of it confusing and I didn’t connect with any of the characters. It really did nothing for me. I’m so disappointed.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting elements that just didn't quite come together for me. A very lonely young man, Leke, seeks connections by stalking people in malls, making appointments with every type of doctor/practitioner imaginable, and steals things. He does not know his birth mother and his adoptive mother passed away. I adored Leke's quirkiness but would have like a better wrap up to the story.

[Fen Kuntz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish the entirety of this was like the first fifty pages. Really sags in the middle. At times I worried I missed key plot points, but it was just the structure of the book to reveal those near the end.

[Omphile Raleie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled. Like really struggled to make sense of all the different character and traveling between the eras. Once I got to page 40 or so it began making sense.

There are so many things going through my mind about this book.

I'll come back and edit this.

[Helga Schaberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

It all came together in the end, but until then I was quite confused. The plot emulated Leke's confusion, but it requires some staying power on the part of the reader.

[AdriAnne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending was a bit open ended for me.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something totally different, highly recommend!

[Natalie Sifuma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A narrative that merges past and present, bouncing between two African states but staying within one family and showing how curses begin and how they can be broken. A stellar debut!

[Vanya De Lang · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heartfelt story of a boy. Lost through the years, he eventually finds his way. A recommended read.

[yumna (whenitalkaboutreading) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leke takes the award for the most irritating fictional character I've read about

[kiki · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 sad and sweet and gentle and lovely

[Nadia · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book. I read it as part of my semester requirements.