What makes a family? How is it defined and by whom? Is freedom for everyone?
In Necessary Fiction, Eloghosa Osunde poses these provocative questions and many more while exploring the paths and dreams, hopes and fears of more than two dozen characters who are staking out lives for themselves in contemporary Nigeria.
Across Lagos, one of Africa's largest urban areas and one of the world's most dynamic cities, Osunde's characters seek out love for self and their chosen partners, even as they risk ruining relationships with parents, spouses, family, and friends. As the novel unfolds, a rolling cast emerges: vibrantly active, stubbornly alive, brazenly flawed. These characters grapple with desire, fear, time, death, and God, forming and breaking unexpected connections; in the process unveiling how they know each other, have loved each other, and had their hearts broken in that pursuit.
As they work to establish themselves in the city's lively worlds of art, music, entertainment, and creative commerce, we meet their collective and individual attempts to reckon with the necessary fiction they carry for survival.
From the acclaimed author of Vagabonds!: an audacious and eye-opening exploration of LGBTQ+ life in contemporary Nigeria, seen through the lives of dozens of characters. What makes a family? Who gets to define it? And why does it matter? In Necessary Fiction, Eloghosa Osunde poses these provocative questions and many more as they explore the lives and loves, hopes and fears of more than two dozen characters who are trying to define themselves in today's Nigeria. Across Lagos, one of Africa's largest urban areas and one of the world's most dynamic cities, Eloghosa's characters -- queer, non-binary, poly, and trans -- seek out love for themselves and their chosen partners, even as they risk ruining relationships with parents, spouses, family, and friends. As the novel unfolds and new characters step into the narrative, it becomes clear that many of them know each other, have been intimate with each other, have loved each other and have had their hearts broken by each other. As these characters work to establish themselves in the city's lively worlds of art, music, and entertainment, they come to learn that while once it may have been a necessary fiction to lie about themselves, their happiness can thrive only when they break free of calcified ideas of love, commitment, and famiy to find their truth. By turns unexpected and encouraging, Necessary Fiction is a wise and poignant novel about the contemporary queer experience.
