Wake Me When I'm Gone

by Odafe Atogun

Everyone says that Ese is the most beautiful woman in the region, but a fool. A young widow, she lives in a village, where the crops grow tall and the people are ruled over by a Chief on a white horse. She married for love, but now her husband is dead, leaving her with nothing but a market stall and a young son to feed.

When the Chief knocks on Ese's door demanding that she marry again, as the laws of the land dictate she must, Ese is a fool once more. There is a high price for breaking the law, and an even greater cost for breaking the heart of a Chief. Ese will face the wrath of gods and men in the fight to preserve her heart, to keep her son and to right centuries of wrongs. She will change the lives of many on the road to freedom, and she will face the greatest pain a mother ever can.

Wake Me When I'm Gone is a story of curses broken and lives remade, of great tragedy and incredible rebirth. In this, his second novel, Nigerian writer Odafe Atogun unfolds a world rich with tradition and folklore, a world filled with incredible people of remarkable strength, a world that is changing fast.

Genres: Fiction, Africa, African Literature, Literature, Nigeria

209 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 3, 2017

About the author

Born in Nigeria, Odafe Atogun is a writer who draws inspiration from his African society to create a unique and colourful world where humankind is consumed by a common desire for change. World rights to his debut novel, Taduno’s Song, were acquired by Canongate, who published the UK edition in 2016. It has also been published in the US by Penguin Random House, in Nigeria by Ouida Books and translated into several languages. Taduno’s Song was selected for the BBC Radio 2 Book Club and has received critical acclaim. His second novel, Wake Me When I’m Gone, is out. Now a fulltime writer, he is working on a new book.

Reviews

[Katie.dorny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very simple yet profound novel. I did not expect to fall in love with this as much I did!

If you are looking for a diverse novel to learn more about Nigerian culture from a Nigerian writer look no further!!

Here we meet a woman who is widowed; with her young son to look after in a Nigerian village.

Soon the Chief of the village pursues her in order to marry her - she refuses. What follows is the story of one woman learning to stand up for herself and other woman; and what can happen when you have faith that life will get better and some people are
You simply just destined to meet.

This book was written without any fancy language or major twists and turns in the plot - and it made the story stand out all the more.

The author has a beautifully vivid writing style which I adore.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

To read all my book reviews plus author interviews, book extracts and giveaways, visit my blog: https://whatcathyreadnext.wordpress.com/

Wake Me When I'm Gone tells the story of Ese, widowed and bringing up her young son, Noah, alone. The language is simple and straightforward, almost in the manner of a fable, and the sense that the reader is listening to a story is enhanced by the first-person narrative. There is a timeless quality to the tale being told, although from the mention of items like radios, it is clear that it is set not that far off the present. I felt the picture of the small village and the faraway big city also contributed to the feeling of a fairytale.

Through Ese’s eyes, the reader witnesses the inferior position of women in the social order of the village. In this patriarchal society, a woman’s role is circumscribed and tradition is used as a reason for preventing any change. Hence, the attempt by the Head Priest and Chief of the village to force Ese to remarry or face the prospect of losing custody of her son to a male relative.

This is also a community influenced by superstition, fearful of the wrath of their gods in case they send bad weather or other natural disaster and who believe that defiance of the gods will bring madness and death. The people cling to cruel beliefs such as children made orphans by the death of their parents are responsible for those deaths because they are cursed. The orphans must be shunned, left homeless and without means of support.

Ese is unwilling to accept unquestioningly the customs of the village, particularly where they threaten her son or where they seem morally wrong. Her resistance brings unwelcome consequences and she is forced to begin a lonely search for safety and shelter.

Throughout the novel, stories play a key part. There are the fearsome stories the priests tell to prevent resistance to the laws of the village. And there are the stories Ese tells to help her son cope with the loss of his father and the difficulties they face; hopeful messages that ‘one day things will change’ and that she has given him ‘the secret of happiness’ so he will never be sad’. Her simple wisdom is rooted in principles of truth, kindness and generosity.

I found Ese’s story, although sad at times, ultimately uplifting with its message that good can come out of tragedy and a person’s legacy can persist long after they are gone. I really enjoyed this book: for the story, the insight it provides into Nigerian customs and traditions, and its simple, graceful prose. I will definitely seek out the author’s first book, Taduno’s Song.

I received an advance reader copy courtesy of NetGalley and publishers, Canongate Books, in return for an honest review.

[Elite Group · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written story about traditions and life in a small Nigerian village.

Ese is a young widow living in a tiny Nigerian village bringing up her young son, Noah, alone. Her only income is a market stall but through hard work, she is making a success of her life despite her sorrow. Her main joy is her son who she is bringing up to be a caring and considerate man.

Her whole life is shattered when the chief of the village determines to make her one of his many wives. Ese married for love and cannot bring herself to become the chief’s wife especially as many of the other wives’ children mysteriously die as soon as they marry.

This act is the one on which the whole story revolves. Traditions state that if a widow does not remarry within a certain time their children are taken away and looked after by a male relative. Ese’s uncle is a cruel man who treats his children as slave labourers and she will do anything to avoid giving Noah to this man.

The book is full of traditions and stories which determine the life of the village. A particularly cruel one is that orphans are deemed accountable for their parents’ death and are therefore left homeless and destitute. Noah shows his mother’s spirit by befriending some orphans and tells his mother that he dreams of building an orphanage to house these poor children.

Eventually, Ese has no option but to flee her village and find refuge elsewhere. She has to leave her son behind who becomes ill and dies and is buried. However, Ese refuses to believe that her son is really dead. She is taken in by an elderly lady in a faraway village who says she has been waiting for Ese to come and not long afterwards a child comes to Ese who is the exact replica of her son apart from a missing birthmark. She rebuilds her life and begins to look after orphans as Noah had always wanted.

This book has a dreamlike quality, it is full of stories and traditions and it makes you empathise with Ese, a strong woman, trying to fight against years of rules that have been ingrained into her village. I particularly liked the introduction near the end of Professor Andu Abibe, a man who has risen in the world and comes back to encourage the villagers to rise up against the priests who have held sway for so long. It is even more amazing that he was an orphan but has overcome this to become a professor.

I read this book in one day, the writing simply flows and you become immersed in the story of Ese and her struggles. It shows how things can be changed if a person is determined to stand up against inbred ideas that are there simply because they have always been that way. A very uplifting book, I will look out for any further books by this author.

Dexter


Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

[Expat Panda · Rating 2 out of 5]

When men write from the perspective of a woman, the story ensuing usually ends up one dimensional and unbelievable.

I foolishly didn't realize that this story was a parable- a folk tale- if you will. The story was around Ese, a widow who has to fight customs and traditions and is oppressed by power hungry, evil men who are more out for their own selfish gain than the benefit the villages they serve.

I could not empathize with the protagonist in the least; her voice seemed inauthentic and her troubles were trivialized in my mind. Everything just seemed unrealistic to me.

The worst bit was when Ese spoke about ‘the secret of happiness’ so that her son would never be sad... Denying her child's ability to feel negative emotions seemed ludicrous to me.

The good thing about this book was that it was short.

[Sinead Anja (Huntress of Diverse Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Check out my book blog for more book reviews and other bookish posts!

I received an ARC of Wake Me When I’m Gone from Netgalley. I decided to request this book mainly because of the cover. However, the blurb itself was also quite intriguing.

This book is #ownvoices for Nigerian representation.

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Ese is an interesting main character. Her experiences and the people around her lead to her starting to question some of the customs in her village, which leads to her standing up for herself and trying to find a way to do something good for those who have less than she does. She’s strong in her convictions and believes in her own strength.

The writing is very simple and not at all flowery. It’s very on-point and rarely connects with other topics. There’s a very clear red line throughout the book. Most of the characters aren’t as developed as Ese is. I feel that this made the characters very one-dimensional, even though we do see an indirect mention as to how not everything is black and white later on in the book, when Duka meets Ese again. It is very clear throughout the book that the story focusses mainly on her and her development. Since Ese is the focal point of this story, most of the story is telling not showing, because she finds out about certain people and events through other people. I didn’t like this that much.

The topic of religion is introduced after a few pages. I thought that we as readers would find out more about how Ese feels about religion and how her belief changes, however we didn’t really find out much about her thoughts on religion. I was quite surprised about this, since it is mentioned quite regularly throughout the book, so I was expecting it to be discusses before the book ends.

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Wake Me When I’m Gone is an interesting book that portrays how a woman started to realise that some of the traditions in her village were oppressive and how she finds the strength to change these rules. I wasn’t a fan of the writing style and in my opinion, some parts of the book could have been written in more detail. However, it was a nice read, and some of you are bound to enjoy this more.

[Jenny Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tells the story of Ese, a beautiful Nigerian woman who lives in a tiny rural community. When her husband is tragically killed in a farming accident, Ese and her son are expected to conform to the cultural traditions which dictate how widows and their offspring should behave. These “laws” are enforcable by the Chief and the High Priests who prey on the fears of the local people, fears which are based on superstitions, stories that have been passed down through the generations and religious beliefs concerning the wrath of the gods. Ese refuses to conform to these customs which she sees as outdated and cruel. The path she has decided to take is not an easy one but the love she feels for her family and an inner conviction that she is doing the right thing give her the strength to carry on.

The book has a dreamlike quality which makes it feel more like a story which has been imagined or created than an actual description of something which could have happened. For me, this detracted from the impact. Personally I think it would have been more powerful if it had been plausible, but maybe I am missing the point of the storytelling traditions. Also, the language and style of writing are so simplistic that I did wonder whether this was intended to be a children’s book.

Overall I enjoyed the book and it certainly gave me an insight into the life of a small rural community in Nigeria. I assume it is a realistic portrayal of that life and I was fascinated because it is just so different from anything we come across in the Western world. I would guess that the inexorable trail of progress is soon going to erode these cultural traditions and I am in two minds as to whether that is a good thing or not.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

My latest book was a serendipitous find: it's called Wake Me When I'm Gone and it's by Odafe Atogun who lives in Abuja, Nigeria. What I particularly like about his writing is that his characters are people who are open to change.
Wake Me When I'm Gone is the story of Ese, a woman recently widowed who refuses to comply with traditional customs about remarriage and passing custody of her son to her son to a male relative. It is not just that she does not love the Chief who pressures her into submitting to him, it is also that she wants time to grieve the husband that she married for love, and that she is appalled by the treatment of children caught up in this situation. Many of them are treated more like political rivals than innocent children, and there are credible rumours that male children taken into the care of the Chief are murdered.
So Ese stands up for herself, for her son, and for the orphaned children of the village and invokes the opprobrium of the community. She is a very capable woman and is able to support Noah and herself from her own garden, even though she has lost the fields that supplied vegetables for her market stall. But the chief is obdurate, and he makes things very hard for her. As is so often the case in these situations she has to flee, but she finds a safe haven and is able to build a new life. And while there is no soppy happy ending, Ese becomes a leader in her new community and influences important changes to long-standing traditions that have ceased to be appropriate in the modern world.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2018/08/06/w...

[the Kent cryptid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wake Me When I'm Gone has the feeling of a fairy tale, or a fable. It's the story of a young widow called Ese who lives with her son in a small Nigerian village. When tragedy strikes and she loses everything she knows, she has to find the courage to start again and to protect those who need her help.

Odafe Atogun writes in a direct style, with a sense of timelessness about it. It's a story with a clear moral message which is, nevertheless, never intrusive. It won't change your life, but it would be a good book to read on a long train journey.

[N · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very quick read. I think the story is a parable. If it is a parable, I can understand why the unlikely situations arose. If it isn't, the implausibility of the situations was a little distracting. The writing style was quite detached - consequently, I didn't care about Ese's tribulations.

[Sarah Key · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I finished Odafe Atogun’s novel, ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go’ I have kept thinking about it. That’s a sign, to me, that a book makes a real impression. I whizzed through this tale and thoroughly enjoyed the writer’s style and language usage.

The simple yet striking cover complimented the story, which was reminiscent, in many ways, of a fairy tale. Atogun skilfully painted an atmospheric picture of village life in a remote part of Nigeria, highlighting local beliefs in a patriarchal society - curses and spells, dreams and illness, and vengeful gods sending bad weather to punish villagers who attempted to break tradition.

The heroine of the story, Ese, is a beautiful woman who endures much before she finds peace., Once widowed, she is pursued by the drunken old chief who rides a white horse. Still devoted to her late husband, Tanto, she refuses to marry and even the threat of sending her beloved son, Noah, to live with his cruel paternal uncle, Jaja, is not enough to make her yield to ancient rules. Ese is also concerned about the rumored curse that the children of widows who marry the Chief die when they move into the palace.

After a failed attempt to steal away into the night, with her son, the High Priest, enforcers and royal guards ensure that she is punished for not obeying the law. With the help of her friend, Kpofe, her situation luckily, but only temporarily, improves.

Noah, as a sensitive boy, worries about the plight of orphans and clings to the dream that he and his mother will, one day, open a place of refuge for outcasts who are cruelly treated by the community.

The author sustains the first person, female voice throughout the book as Ese tells her compelling tale. The beauty, refuses to be loved for her looks. She is a woman of conviction who stands alone when the village turns against her. Successful at business she has raised the village’s economy by trading on the Main Street and is influential with the Chair-Lady. Later she opens another shop. As a devoted parent she must endure a demanding journey to find the herbalist, Mazamaza.

Because of Ese’s strong character and clear mindedness, I found the fact that she is unable to accept what happens to Noah, somewhat implausible and distracting. I felt the author should, perhaps, have included some heightened magical realism - used a folktale or a magical bird, say to deliver the child who was so similar but lacked the distinctive identifying birthmark. As Kpofe explains to Ese, ‘He is a gift given to replace the son you lost, because you have shown so much faith...’

After taking in orphans, and refusing to adhere to laws forbidding women to build, Ese finds herself in exile although, Mama, a seer, is waiting for her at The Gate to her new village where she is also reunited with her son. Once, again, for this to merge more seamlessly with the plot, I would have liked stronger inclusion of myth, allegory or folklore. The snippets of stories that Ese tells Noah, when the rains come, for example, about the lizard who fell from the tall iroko tree, left me hankering for more.

After the death of little Ada, Ese publicly pleads the cause of orphans in her new village. The support of the progressive young Chief and the arrival of Professor Andu Adibe, in a motor car, no less, make for a favourable outcome and reinforce the theme of a changing, more progressive Nigeria. Ese still has to overcome the curse of blindness, madness and death, however…

‘Noah’s’ discovery of the painting of Ese with a young man attempted to bring the story back to the point it had begun at. As an ending, in my opinion, it was a little convenient and expected. I preferred the final reflections of our heroine, Ese, when she acknowledges that she has reached her destination, her destiny, her place and yet, eternity lies ahead 'filled with love, faith and freedom.’

I thoroughly enjoyed this African tale. I loved the characters’ names and could almost taste the boiled yam and bitter neem tea. I could picture the dusty village and the beautiful heroine. In societies, where women’s voices still struggle to be heard, Atogun does a great job of letting us experience life, with its triumphs and sorrows, magic and mysticism, through the eyes of a brave woman set on change.

[Mandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a gentle and simply told tale of Ese, a young widow, bringing up her son Noah in a small village in Nigeria, who finds herself in conflict with the local Chief and the High Priests about how she should lead her life. It’s a patriarchal society and everyone is supposed to obey the timeless rules set down by the priests. But Ese isn’t willing to comply and has to decide whether she has the strength to risk all to confront the traditional ways. I found the book interesting in its portrayal of village life, but the characterisation, apart from Ese herself, lacks depth and the narrative style is flat and unengaging. However, there’s much to think about here and the conflict between the old and the new is dealt with even-handedly – for sure there’s much that must be discarded but not all the old ways are worthless – and it’s a pleasant enough read about facing modernity in a traditional society.

[Fatima Abu · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I liked some things about this book, the writing was straightforward and easy to read and mostly easy to understand except for a few things I found odd. it’s hard to understand the timeframe this book is supposed to be set it. I get that it’s about a village and they’re just starting to get used to civilisation and all, but some of the languages used to describe life in the village were simply unrealistic. This made it a bit hard to picture what this village life really is like.

I liked the main character but I feel the way some things played out were very fairytale like. But these things aside I liked that the main character was a business woman and while she faced challenges they were not the usual poverty stricken helpless leads women are depicted as, especially being a widow.

An enjoyable read if you’re looking for something easy and I also feel like it could easily pass for a YA book

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great imagery, but this book lost me a lot of times. It was like I kept looking for the meat of the story.

I enjoyed the village life and the nostalgia that was evoked. Apart from the injustice and dogma of the village, Odafe painted a picture of simpler times, and that makes this novel enjoyable.

[Luke · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars

tl;dr – I don’t really have anything to say on this one and I suppose that’s something to say in itself !

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Wake Me When I’m Gone is not necessarily an outright bad book, but I have to say upfront that I did not find it that interesting at all. Its themes of love, and sacrifice, and working against all odds to affect change should be inspiring, and yet they just don’t quite get there for me. It’s not poorly written at all, I don’t think, but the words never lift off the page, never really do anything to make me actually feel something. It’s a novel that feels like it’s trying very hard to have a heart, though that heart comes across as formulaic, robotic even.

I think a large part of this is that the story of Ese’s life, as she tries to care for her son after the death of her husband leaves her at the mercy of a surprisingly cruel society, just feels like one long series of contrived coincidences. These may be passed off as fabulistic prophecies, but really, one deus ex machina is bad enough, never mind Ese being left a house by a woman she met three days earlier because she apparently saw her coming in a dream. I get that this book is probably meant to be some kind of fable, or some kind of metaphor for Christ and sin and redemption, but it just doesn’t hit the right notes at all for me personally. The prose is too simple, quite honestly severely lacking in any kind of genuine artistic spirit, and the only blessing in it is that the book is so short that I only had to tolerate it for a few hours at most.

I will say that I did think the ideas in the story had potential, and maybe in the hands of a writer willing to take more creative risks, we could have had a genuinely moving story here. But Wake Me When I’m Gone just feels a little bit too unpolished to ever strike the note that I wish it would strike.
 

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uplifting story of how good can overcome many obstacles. Ese is a strong, independent mother and widow, who brings up her son to fight the road to freedom. A story of tragedy and sadness but also shows how people can find remarkable strength when they are rock bottom.
Thoroughly enjoyable easy read

[Tosin (booksxnaps) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ese, a young lady who recently lost her husband lives in a remote village somewhere in Nigeria with her son Noah.

The book follows the story of Ese, her life, the tribulations and trials she went through. The ridiculous traditions and cultural practices she had to endure.

It was a very simple story but I did not love it. It was almost impossible to connect with the characters. I’d probably not have finished it if it was a bigger book.

I did find some parts hilarious but it was still pretty bleh for me. Just felt like a pointless story if I’m being honest. An unrealistic plot.


Pros : Quick read , easy style of writing, simple story
Cons: unrealistic plot, zero connection to the characters, a lot of dragged out parts.
I personally think it’d have been better as a very short story.

If you’re a fan of old African myths, fairytales and folktales then you just might enjoy this book. I gave it 3 Stars.

[Aisha (thatothernigeriangirl) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Welp. Definitely an underwhelming read. The storytelling was bland and a letdown. It had so much potential especially since the main topics (the ill treatment of widows and orphans) are not usually discussed in the society but the execution was poor.
Maybe because the author wrote about a female character in the first person
Or maybe the story just wasn’t well envisioned.
Needless to say, I expected more after reading the blurb.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book overall, but I felt the author kept Ese's character at an arm's length - as such, I never felt like could completely empathize with her. I appreciated the bond between Ese and Noah, but I often felt his dialogue felt far to composed for someone of his age. Overall, while I enjoyed the book - I felt it was a bit too long for me.

[Nam · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of the story was very promising. It set within the isolated communities in Nigeria, where the patriarchy and the superstitious laws still ruled deeply. A woman, with the love for her son and her strong will, was aspired to challenge the laws of the land. This book introduced me to a complex struggle within Nigerian communities and I appreciated the experience.

That being said, the book was never fully developed and left a lot to be desired. There were so many plot points unexplored. What was the point of the painting again? What did Kpofe contribute to the story at all, except being a convenient plot device? Ese's quest was heavily undermined by such plot devices, a rich adoptive mama or a young sympathetic chief appearing out of nowhere. Ese was never fully developed as a character. I wanted to sympathize with her, but the flow of emotion and character development was often interrupted by the deus-ex-machina events. Like when her son was in custody his uncle, I hoped for a breakthrough in her will power, but it was resolved by 2 bottles of whisky from a city dude. When her son was dead, I was moved by her grief, but her plight, again, was "magically" aided by a rich old lady, a new doppelganger son. What's the point for me, as a reader, to be emotional invested in the character anymore? It is a pity that this book has such promising potential.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book, and found the narrative interesting. The writing style is prosaic but in a way that evokes folklore, which felt well suited to the story. Overall, the themes in the story were not for me. At times, I thought “yes, situations change”; things that seem like the end usually aren’t; time can be a great mender, people change their minds, wounds heal. But ultimately it felt the story became less about perseverance and more about martyrdom; the suffering protagonist is a woman, and it is her maternal nature she suffers for (the author is a man, and the masculine urge to portray a woman’s primarily as a mother is apparent). I felt the suggestion of peace and joy at the end was hollow; rewards for suffering. I am still glad I read it, I just feel that my personal philosophies don’t align with the author’s.

[Gayathiri Rajendran · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells the story of Ese, who is widowed with a son Noah and how she brings him up facing the hardships life throws at her. This book focuses on the traditions and customs prevalent in her society which is set in Nigeria.

The story is presented to us in Ese's point of view and there are a lot of fables interspersed between the story along with hopeful messages. This book provides insight into Nigerian customs and traditions and has a dreamlike quality while reading. The prose is simple and free flowing without any complicated words and the story itself does not have any complicated twists.

This is an uplifting story of how good can overcome many obstacles to triumph at the end. A thoroughly enjoyable easy read!

[Tony Wainaina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very unlike any novel I have ever read. Reminds me of short childhood stories that always ended with a moral - as in a teaching/learning. Several morals to this story - good over evil, love overcoming, resilience, persistence, the secret of happiness. The overreaching moral is the importance of caring for and nurturing all children, whatever circumstances they were born into. Care for them and they will thrive. This kind of novel probably belongs to a genre of its own. Simply written beautiful prose, childlike in its delivery, but extremely lucid and effectively communicated. “And the moral of the story is...” Very nicely done Odafe!!

[Kyo · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry to say that I just could not connect with this book at all. I liked the set-up, but the writing was so incredibly flat that I could not get into it at all, the characters were flat and one-dimensional and the narrative did not engage at all. The writing was really only telling no showing and the way these characters interacted was incredibly flat, and the dialogue was stilted and felt like it was written by a middle school student who tried their hand at writing for a first time.

Disappointing.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful novel - about grief, love, motherhood and breaking the rules.

I found Ese’s story, although sad at times, ultimately uplifting with its message that good can come out of tragedy and a person’s legacy can persist long after they are gone. I really enjoyed this book: for the story, the insight it provides into Nigerian customs and traditions, and its simple, graceful prose. I will definitely seek out the author’s first book, Taduno’s Song.

[Daniela Oliveira · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a quick read.
Pro: (Single mother) Ese’s resilience, hope and love for her son Noah lead me to believe “Wake Me When I’m Gone” is a parable as we learn that love and hope are what help Ese overcome hardships.

Con: Although a realistic fiction, I was often distracted by the improbability of the events that occurred consecutively. The lack of detail limits the readers imagination and I failed to empathise with the characters as there was a sense of detachment between author and characters.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

The novel tells the story of Ese, an independent woman’s struggle against an oppressive, patriarchal regime.

Set in a secluded, authoritarian Nigerian village, the novel looks at how tradition and conservatism gets in the way of morality.

However, despite the setting and themes being something that interest me I didn't enjoy the book. I wasn't won over by the author's writing and the magical realism felt flat.

[Kabura Zakama · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought ‘Wake me up when I’m gone’ a few weeks ago and promptly put it at the end of my TBR list. A couple of weeks ago, I got the author to autograph my copy of the book. I picked it last night to return it to the bookshelf but ended up taking it to bed.

The story of Ese doesn’t deviate from the stereotypical but the way it is told is truly sensitive and pleasing. It is a story of good versus evil in the way of life of a typical African community. The struggle against harmful traditional practices is usually fiercer than this story depicts but you can forgive that by the tender way the author handles it in this book. After all, in the fight between good and evil, all that good needs to overcome is a vessel. Ese is that vehicle in this story.

You will cry with Ese and her son, Noah, as they try to fight harmful practices against widows and orphans. I’d recommend this book for the sensitivity and tenderness of the writing. Atogun has given us a story that appeals firstly to the heart before any literary biases.

[Gracie Wandyte · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very quick and interesting read but the story was kinda all over the place, at first it was about Ese not marrying the chief, then later was about saving her son, then about her care for the orphans…

I don’t think customs should be totally disregarded but I love the fact that she was a determined and affectionate lady.
I love the mention of God ( just didn’t like the lower case letter used in the book)

Nonetheless I enjoyed the story.

[Uzoamaka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love books where the children act wise beyond their years and this is one such book. Much talk about how to treat the orphans and the widows in the 'right' way. The book includes conflict with traditional and christian ways and what works well. Written as if narrated by Use which leaves the user guessing about some of the blanks that she can't fill in like with her son and her husband when she's not there but has to rely on what the villagers tell her.

[P.D.R. Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short novel - novella? - is an interesting mix of fable, myth and folklore. Set in Africa and told in the manner of a tale around the campfire it makes for a pleasant read. We are happy when beautiful Ese finally succeeds and some of the traditional laws are changed.

A nice simple tale, an easy read and one for the book club.