A Kind of Madness

A searing, unflinching collection of stories set in Nigeria that explores community expectations, familial strife and the struggle for survival.

A one-eyed chicken, a chimpanzee forgotten in a cage, a tormented daughter searching for a link to past lives. Everday madness and monsters are explored against the backdrop of an indifferent Lagos in Uche Okonkwo's dynamic debut collection.

Across ten evocative stories, A Kind of Madness dips in and out of the lives of Nigerians, weaving through their lunacy and longing, unravelling the tensions between mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, best friends, siblings and more.

Brimming with vitality, these bites of mundane madness mark the arrival of an extraordinary new talent in fiction and will leave you hungering for more. Perfect for fans of Love in Colour by Bolu Babalola, Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri and Nearly All the Men in Lagos are Mad by Damilare Kuku.

'[An] outstanding debut. The ten insightful tales, set in modern-day Nigeria, thrum with tension and tenderness' - Daily Mail

'Okonkwo is a storming and brilliant writer and it was a pleasure to step into her world' - Daisy Johnson, author of Fen and The Hotel

'Crackling with energy and alive to our whole kaleidoscope of feeling, these stories will rip you open and light up your insides' - Saba Sams, author of Send Nudes

'Steady-handed and gut-punching. I'm in awe of this mad collection, this necessary writer' - NoViolet Bulawayo, author of Glory

'These stories feel rich and alive, embodied and uninhibited' - Jonathan Escoffery, author of If I Survive You

'Okonkwo's voice is absorbing. I was immersed in the familiar world of these tender, playfully haunting, darkly funny stories. Okonkwo is a writer to watch' - Chinelo Okparanta, author of Under the Udala Trees

'An adeptly crafted, highly expressive, arresting collection' - LaToya Watkins, author of Holler, Child

'Like Jhumpa Lahiri, Okonkwo's mastery of the form is as rich as some of the short story's best practitioners and deserves every recognition it is sure to get' - Chigozie Obioma, author of An Orchestra of Minorities

'Touched my heart. Uche Okonkwo's stories are among the very best' - Sidik Fofana, author of Stories from the Tenants Downstairs

'Okonkwo has a Chekhovian eye for the tangle of internal motivations and assumptions that steer her characters... Readers will be eager for more of Okonkwo's artful writing' - Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

'This collection explores how relationships, traditions and hardships can drive us to different kinds of madness. Be it mental illness, broken promises or unmet expectations, life's complexities are the main characters in these striking and insightful stories' - Ms Magazine

'Intense and masterfully evocative... In delicately chiselled prose, Okonkwo successfully reveals the intricate contours of humanity and the Nigerian life. Using this collection to nail her name to the wall of blazingly promising literary talents, Okonkwo has given us stories that settle in the pits of our stomachs like they belong there. How gorgeously absorbing' - Republic

'Surprising, illuminating, and deeply human' - Booklist