The Death of Vivek Oji: A Novel

Akwaeke Emezi

Aug 2020 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

A Good Morning America Buzz Pick

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"Electrifying." — O: The Oprah Magazine

Named a Best Book of 2020 by The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, USA TODAY, Vanity Fair, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, Shondaland, Teen Vogue, Vulture, Lit Hub, Bustle, Electric Literature, and BookPage

What does it mean for a family to lose a child they never really knew?

One afternoon, in a town in southeastern Nigeria, a mother opens her front door to discover her son’s body, wrapped in colorful fabric, at her feet. What follows is the tumultuous, heart-wrenching story of one family’s struggle to understand a child whose spirit is both gentle and mysterious. Raised by a distant father and an understanding but overprotective mother, Vivek suffers disorienting blackouts, moments of disconnection between self and surroundings. As adolescence gives way to adulthood, Vivek finds solace in friendships with the warm, boisterous daughters of the Nigerwives, foreign-born women married to Nigerian men. But Vivek’s closest bond is with Osita, the worldly, high-spirited cousin whose teasing confidence masks a guarded private life. As their relationship deepens—and Osita struggles to understand Vivek’s escalating crisis—the mystery gives way to a heart-stopping act of violence in a moment of exhilarating freedom. 

Propulsively readable, teeming with unforgettable characters, The Death of Vivek Oji is a novel of family and friendship that challenges expectations—a dramatic story of loss and transcendence that will move every reader.

Ratings and reviews

too short. Rest of book did not load after I paid it!, A ripoff,

About the author

Akwaeke Emezi is the author of the novels Pet, a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, and Freshwater, named a New York Times Notable Book and short-listed for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize, the PEN/Hemingway Award, the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award, and a Lambda Literary Award, among other honors. In 2019 Emezi was selected as one of the National Book Awards’ 5 Under 35 honorees, and in 2017 their short story “Who Is Like God” won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Africa. Freshwater has been translated into ten languages, and is currently in development as a TV series at FX, with Emezi writing and executive producing with Tamara P. Carter. Emezi’s writing has appeared in T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Dazed, The Cut, BuzzFeed, Granta, Vogue.com, and Commonwealth Writers, among other venues.