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Everything Good Will Come | 
 enlarge | Author: Sefi Atta
Publisher: Interlink Books
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy Used: $6.17
You Save: $18.78 (75%)
New (17) Used (17) from $6.17
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 471696
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 336
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.6 x 1.3
ISBN: 1566565707
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9781566565707
ASIN: 1566565707
Publication Date: October 31, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Ex-library (has library stickers & stamps), First 1/3 of book pages are creased and stained, Dust jacket is a bit cloudy, normal shelf wear, no writing or highlighting. Same day shipping if processed before 5 pm eastern time on business day. If not, will ship next business day.
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Book Description
Everything Good Will Come introduces an important new voice in contemporary fiction. With insight and a lyrical wisdom, Nigerian-born Sefi Atta has written a powerful and eloquent story set in her African homeland. It is 1971, and Nigeria is under military rule-- though the politics of the state matter less than those of her home to Enitan Taiwo, an eleven-year-old girl tired of waiting for school to start. Will her mother, who has become deeply religious since the death of Enitan's brother, allow her friendship with the new girl next door, Sheri Bakare? This novel charts the fate of these two Nigerian girls, one who is prepared to manipulate the traditional system and one who attempts to defy it. Written in the voice of Enitan, against the backdrop of political turmoil in Nigeria, Everything Good Will Come is Enitan's story; one of a fiercely intelligent, strong young woman living in a culture that still insists on feminine submission. "Atta's achievement in this novel is impressive in many ways. Thematically, her work is wide-ranging and yet powerfully focused, the different areas of concern drawn together so that they inform each other."--Chris Dunton, The Sunday Independent "Reading Everything Good Will Come, you can feel the dust and the sun. This award-winning novel is an iridescent introduction to a fascinating nation."--Tom Templeton, The Observer Magazine "Again and again Atta's writing tugs at the heart, at the conscience. At the same time, reflecting the resilience of the Lagosians whose lives she explores..."--Sunday Independent, South Africa "This is a courageous story about friendship and self-discovery, it is a rallying cry to women to speak out in a world that tries to muzzle them."--Helen Habila, author of Waiting for an Angel
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| Customer Reviews:
A warm intriguing tale January 13, 2005
Ojay (New York)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
Sefi Atta's first book is the story of two Nigerian girls and follows them as they grow up. Next door neighbours,in an affluent neighbourhood by the Lagos lagoon,Enitan and Sheri become fast friends.
Yet their growing up is overshadowed by the death of Enitan's brother which drives her mother to a "white-garment" church where the priests perform rituals and speak what sounds to a young Enitan like gibberish. Sheri, growing up in a polygamous home faces her own troubles, negotiating her way through the world, her budding beauty, both blessing and curse.
Sefi Atta deftly and engagingly takes us through the lives of these two girls against a backdrop of political instability, military coups, and male chauvinism in an African society caught between Western and traditional values.
If you enjoy a good story, well told, or are interested in contemporary African writing, or the lives and friendships of
women, then you must get this book
Everything Good is Here November 17, 2004
gayle brandeis (California)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
In Everything Good Will Come, Sefi Atta has crafted a beautiful and important novel. We follow the main character, Enitan, as she comes into her own power and joy under the brutal political and social climate in Lagos. This book brims with gorgeous and vivid detail; it reminds the reader how a single voice, claimed and raised, has the power to change the world.
 A Well Written Piece June 9, 2005
Dozie Okpalaobieri (Chicago, IL United States)
7 out of 11 found this review helpful
I wont rehash the book's content since that has been done already, but as I read this book (I just finished it today June 9, 2005), I could relate to it, the travails of the different characters and I identified with the pressure put on them by the expectations of the Nigerian society.
It made me step back a little and think about my similarity to the different characters at their different stages in life up till the closing moments of the book.
The author uses vivid imagery and yet leaves enough for the imagination. I would recommend this to anyone who loves to read about the Nigerian middle class experience.
I tried to read slowly so that it wouldn't end. August 28, 2006
Oyego (USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
In panoramic colors, Sefi Atta has writen a novel full of life and excitement. Innocent, jaded, happy, sad, amusing, serious, alive and pulsing with the many rhythms of the Lagos that we have grown to love-hate, this story is not just the story of Enitan and the many characters in the novel, it is the story of middle-class Lagosians of every assortment. It is fiction, it is real.
You will experience the odyssey that life in postcolonial Nigeria is for many. However, at the core of the novel is a tone that rings universal. Every reader, regardless of cultural background, will recognize familiar themes that will stir the heart and animate the soul!
The particular edition I read had many typos. I am guessing this was editorial carelessness on the part of the publishers. Thankfully the novel was so good that, overall, such flaws seemed inconsequent.
Excellent!!!
A Classic October 23, 2006
Ida Persson
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
What I feel sets apart Everything Good Will Come from many other novels based on Africa is Sefi Atta's impeccable descriptive ability that will leave you yearning for more.
It does not matter that you do not know where Nigeria is, or that it's the most populated nation in Africa; by the end of the book, you will feel as you 'know' Lagos.
Ultimately, the author leaves me with my favorite type of painting - The daily hardships many African women face as they try to 'act like women should act', yet at the same time, be active citizens in their country.
A job well done! A Classic!
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