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Struggles of a Dreamer #2
Tunde: A Man of Lost Ambition
208 pages, Paperback
Published March 1, 2015
2 people are currently reading
892 people want to read
About the author
Yahaya Baruwa
6 books112 followersAmong the authors of Toronto's literary landscape is 29-year old York University Psychology graduate, Yahaya Baruwa.
Having chosen a not-so-common path as a creative entrepreneur, he pinpointed his passion and talent at 21 years old.
As a successful writer, Baruwa has found a direct expression of his skills and interests in business and inspirational storytelling. This passion and talent led to his first literary offering, the novel titled, Struggles of a Dreamer: the Battle between a Dream and Tradition. www.StrugglesofaDreamer.com
One of eight children of immigrant parents from Kano, Nigeria, this is his first of three novels, (the second and third novels are due for release in 2015), through Tapestry House Publishing (a business which he owns and operates in Toronto, Ontario).
Baruwa has a goal of inspiring 10 million readers both in Canada and the United States of America with the courage to take action towards their most desired personal goals in life; hence selling 7.5 million copies of the novel in the process of bettering the lives of many others.
Having chosen a not-so-common path as a creative entrepreneur, he pinpointed his passion and talent at 21 years old.
As a successful writer, Baruwa has found a direct expression of his skills and interests in business and inspirational storytelling. This passion and talent led to his first literary offering, the novel titled, Struggles of a Dreamer: the Battle between a Dream and Tradition. www.StrugglesofaDreamer.com
One of eight children of immigrant parents from Kano, Nigeria, this is his first of three novels, (the second and third novels are due for release in 2015), through Tapestry House Publishing (a business which he owns and operates in Toronto, Ontario).
Baruwa has a goal of inspiring 10 million readers both in Canada and the United States of America with the courage to take action towards their most desired personal goals in life; hence selling 7.5 million copies of the novel in the process of bettering the lives of many others.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 23, 2025
This is a fascinating book, for a couple of different reasons.
The first is because it made me think differently. There's an underlying plot point that comes to the fore toward the end, where Tunde's wife, Ellie, is thousands of miles away, looking after their son, while Tunde seeks opportunities in both America and Canada. And it comes out that he hasn't talked to his wife or child for a year, and, by the end of the book, hasn't seen them in almost two years.
And initially, that was simply inconceivable of me, and I put it off as unrealistic. Then I realised that this was the thought of an upper middle-class white guy who, really, hasn't had to fight too hard for opportunities, who never experienced racism, who never had to sacrifice everything to pick up and move to a foreign country. In short, my privilege was in the way. The book made me open my eyes to a whole other side of life. I won't be so condescending as to say I understand it now, but it's helped to open my eyes.
The second, and more delightful reason is, having met the author at the bookstore where he tirelessly promotes his work, and having had the opportunity to talk to him, it's very obvious that Tunde IS Yahaya in many ways. His thinking, how he talks, the way he interacts with the other characters... this is the wonderful guy that Yahaya is. Infinitely polite, incredibly generous, and a man of hidden depths.
Is this book perfect? No, there's events that happen along exactly when they're needed to move Tunde along his path. However, the messages within the pages are important, and are relayed well.
I very much enjoyed this book, both as a story and as a learning experience.
The first is because it made me think differently. There's an underlying plot point that comes to the fore toward the end, where Tunde's wife, Ellie, is thousands of miles away, looking after their son, while Tunde seeks opportunities in both America and Canada. And it comes out that he hasn't talked to his wife or child for a year, and, by the end of the book, hasn't seen them in almost two years.
And initially, that was simply inconceivable of me, and I put it off as unrealistic. Then I realised that this was the thought of an upper middle-class white guy who, really, hasn't had to fight too hard for opportunities, who never experienced racism, who never had to sacrifice everything to pick up and move to a foreign country. In short, my privilege was in the way. The book made me open my eyes to a whole other side of life. I won't be so condescending as to say I understand it now, but it's helped to open my eyes.
The second, and more delightful reason is, having met the author at the bookstore where he tirelessly promotes his work, and having had the opportunity to talk to him, it's very obvious that Tunde IS Yahaya in many ways. His thinking, how he talks, the way he interacts with the other characters... this is the wonderful guy that Yahaya is. Infinitely polite, incredibly generous, and a man of hidden depths.
Is this book perfect? No, there's events that happen along exactly when they're needed to move Tunde along his path. However, the messages within the pages are important, and are relayed well.
I very much enjoyed this book, both as a story and as a learning experience.
June 3, 2018
I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books by Yahaya Baruwa. My daughter and I met him at Chapters where he was he was promoting his books. The covers and the colours of them caught my eye. I bought both and enjoyed each one and look forward to the third book.
March 13, 2020
I Love this book-Tunde's journey is so touching. I would recommend reading this book if you have lots of time because you will quickly get addicted
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews