Butterfly Fish

Betty Trask Award winner 2016.A stunning debut from the author of Speak Gigantular.A fragile outsider living in London, Joy struggles to pull the threads of her life back together after her mother's sudden death. Emptiness consumes her and, needing to fill the gaps of her loss, she finds she is drawn to a unique artefact inherited from her mother - a warrior's head cast in brass that belonged to a king in eighteenth century Benin, Nigeria.Joy is haunted by a beautiful young woman who appears in her photographs, familiar yet beguilingly distinct, the woman trails her wherever she goes. Joy begins to dream of a different time, a different place. She feels an inexplicable pull towards this mysterious female, & a past revealing itself through clues is scattered in her path. As family secrets come to light, she unearths the ties between her mother, grandfather, the wife of the king, a fearsome warrior, & the brass head's pivotal connection to them all.Haunting & compelling, Butterfly Fish is a richly told story of love & hope; of family secrets, power, political upheaval, loss & coming undone.°°° Irenosen Okojie MBE is a British-Nigerian writer & Arts Project Manager. Her debut novel Butterfly Fish won the 2016 Betty Trask Award & was shortlisted for an Edinburgh International First Book Award. Her short story collection Speak Gigantular was shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize, the Shirley Jackson Award & the Edge Hill Short Story Prize. Her novel Nudibranch was featured in Vanity Fair, & was championed by Margaret Atwood as a wild, recommended read & selected as one of the best books of the year in the Guardian & Observer Review by Bernardine Evaristo & Diana Evans.Irenosen has been a judge for The Society of Authors, The London Short Story Prize, The Royal Society of Literature, the Berlin Writing Prize, Henley Literary Festival & Mslexia Short Story Competition. With wry humour and a deft touch, Butterfly Fish, the outstanding first novel by a stunning new writer, is a work of elegant and captivating storytelling. A dual narrative set in contemporary London and 19th century Benin in Africa, the book traverses the realms of magic realism with luminous style and graceful, effortless prose. With wry humour and a deft touch, Butterfly Fish, the outstanding first novel by a stunning new writer, is a work of elegant and captivating storytelling. A dual narrative set in contemporary London and 18th century Benin in Africa, the book traverses the realms of magic realism with luminous style and graceful, effortless prose A fragile outsider living in London, Joy struggles to pull the threads of her life back together after her mother's sudden death. As family secrets come to light, she unearths the ties between her mother, grandfather, the wife of the king, a fearsome warrior, and a brass head's pivotal connection to them all.