Accra Noir is a collection of short stories set in the capital city of Ghana – Accra. The stories beautifully weave a web around the places and the shocking existence of people living in Accra. Accra Noir is part of the noir series published by Cassava Republic.
Thank you to Cassava Republic for this review copy.
The people, places, food, language, and lifestyle in the book come to life if you live in Accra or have paid a visit to the capital city of Ghana. This is my first Noir by Cassava Republic and I enjoyed it.
The book is divided into four parts namely One Day For the Master, Heaven gate, No Bribe, All Die Be Die and Sea Never Dry. These phrases are very popular phrases in Ghana. Very often you will find them written behind public transport popularly called ‘trotro’ or names of fishing boats or names of shops or catchphrases exchanged as greetings.
The book took me to places – the Mallam Atta Market, Pig Farm, Aburi, Jamestown, Labadi, Weija, Labone, Kanda, Cantonments among others. At the heart of every story is the portrayal of unpleasant circumstances/situation and the desire to survive. A clear depiction of “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”.
The writing and language in this book depicted the Accra-ness. I loved the use of the local languages Twi & Ga as well as pidgin in the stories. Accra Noir gave me the everyday Accra experience – crime and conflict, experiences of returnees, broken relationships, death and grief, sour lovers, corruption, and politics, dumsor among others.
My favourite stories are Chop Money by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, The Labadi Sunshine Bar by Billie McTernan, Intentional Consequences by Anne Sackey, When a Man Loves a Woman by Nana-Ama Danquah and Kweku’s House by Ayesha Harruna Attah. I was very impressed with the writing of Kwame Dawes in Moon Over Aburi. The plot style and themes discussed are amazing. Wow!
Comments