Hadiza Isma El-Rufai’s debut novel An Abundance of Scorpions is the February 2021 offering at the One Read App.
One Read is a mobile application, brought to you by Nigeria’s Sterling Bank and Ouida Books, aimed at promoting writers, publishers, and other players in the African book industry to create a community of readers. So far, readers have gotten access to Travellers by Helon Habila, We, The Scarred by Mukoma Wa Ngugi, Not My Time to Die by Yolande Mukagasana, Out of Darkness, Shining Light by Petina Gappah, Prince of Monkeys by Nnamdi Ehirim, Ukamaka Olisakwe’s Ogadinma, and Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, Dreams and Assorted Nightmares.
The selected book for the app for February 2021 is Hadiza Isma El-Rufai’s An Abundance of Scorpions. El-Rufai is the founder of the Yasmin El-Rufai Foundation which aims to awaken and nurture creativity in children, and improve the literacy skills of disadvantaged young women in northern Nigeria. An Abundance of Scorpions is her first novel and its blurb goes thus;
Following a horrific tragedy, Tambay leaves Kano for Accra to live with her brother, Aminu. Sadly, her dream of a new beginning is dashed when she can no longer endure the indignity she suffers at the hands of her brother’s new wife. Tambaya returns to northern Nigeria and soon finds work as a matron in an orphanage, under the watchful eye of the ruthless Miss Scholastica. Just when she begins to settle into her new life, an unexpected visit threatens to destroy everything she has worked so hard to build. Tambaya faces moral dilemmas on all sides, but she must stop her life from unravelling once again. Vulnerable, and surrounded by malice, corruption and greed, Tambaya struggles to shape her destiny. An Abundance of Scorpions charts one woman’s journey through grief and uncertainty to a road that leads to self-discovery, redemption and love.
Click here to download the One Read App.
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