Author(s): Oyinkan Braithwaite
Share
A blackly comic novel about lies, love, Lagos, and how blood is thicker - and more difficult to get out of the carpet - than water.
When Korede's dinner is interrupted one night by a distress call from her sister, Ayoola, she knows what's expected of her: bleach, rubber gloves, nerves of steel and a strong stomach. This'll be the third boyfriend Ayoola's dispatched in, quote, self-defence and the third mess that her lethal little sibling has left Korede to clear away. She should probably go to the police for the good of the menfolk of Nigeria, but she loves her sister and, as they say, family always comes first. Until, that is, Ayoola starts dating the fit doctor where Korede works as a nurse. Korede's long been in love with him, and isn't prepared to see him wind up with a knife in his back: but to save one would mean sacrificing the other...
Shortlisted for the 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction
'It's Lagos noir - pulpy, peppery and sinister ... The book is built to move, to hurtle forward - and it does so, dizzyingly. There's a seditious pleasure in its momentum. At a time when there are such wholesome and dull claims on fiction - on its duty to ennoble or train us in empathy - there's a relief in encountering a novel faithful to art's first imperative: to catch and keep our attention... This scorpion-tailed little thriller leaves a response, and a sting, you will remember.' --New York Times
'My Sister, the Serial Killer is the blackest of black comedies, narrated by the longsuffering Korede in brief, matter-of-fact flashes... Oyinkan Braithwaite, a fiendishly talented young Nigerian writer, tells her ghastly story with superb wit and assurance.' --The Times
'Braithwaite's deft first novel offers intriguing glimpses of middleclass Lagos life.' --Mail on Sunday
'This is an assured debut and that dark humour will stay with you long after you've put down the book.' --Scotsman
'Fresh new voices in the crime fiction genre are very welcome, and there are none more fresh than Oyinkan Braitwaite. This visceral debut ... is a darkly funny romp that manages to combine the page-turning quality of the best thrillers with a serious look at familial and sibling conflict. It's also something of a riot ... enormously entertaining.' --Big Issue
'A short, sharp and sinister sister act, told with plenty of mordant humour.' --Irish Independent
'Utterly addictive and a pure joy to read.' --Stylist
