I missed him when the novel was done.” - NPR He glows like the sun, impossible to look at directly yet utterly charismatic. “Instead of getting flattened by death, Vivek becomes more vivid on each page. poses searching questions about gender and acceptance.” - The New Yorker

“Remarkably assured and graceful. Emezi has once again encouraged us to embrace a fuller spectrum of human experience.” - The Washington Post A special read that will not soon be forgotten.” - Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Friday Black This is a book full of line-level beauty a book of multiple perspectives, each rendered organically and fully a book of mystery and community and love. A puzzle wrapped in beautiful language, raising questions of identity and loyalty that are as unanswerable as they are important.” - The New York Times Book Review Propulsively readable, teeming with unforgettable characters, The Death of Vivek Oji is a novel of family and friendship that challenges expectations-a dramatic story of loss and transcendence that will move every reader. As their relationship deepens-and Osita struggles to understand Vivek’s escalating crisis-the mystery gives way to a heart-stopping act of violence in a moment of exhilarating freedom. But Vivek’s closest bond is with Osita, the worldly, high-spirited cousin whose teasing confidence masks a guarded private life.

As adolescence gives way to adulthood, Vivek finds solace in friendships with the warm, boisterous daughters of the Nigerwives, foreign-born women married to Nigerian men. Raised by a distant father and an understanding but overprotective mother, Vivek suffers disorienting blackouts, moments of disconnection between self and surroundings. What follows is the tumultuous, heart-wrenching story of one family’s struggle to understand a child whose spirit is both gentle and mysterious. One afternoon, in a town in southeastern Nigeria, a mother opens her front door to discover her son’s body, wrapped in colorful fabric, at her feet. What does it mean for a family to lose a child they never really knew? Named a Best Book of 2020 by The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, USA TODAY, Vanity Fair, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, Shondaland, Teen Vogue, Vulture, Lit Hub, Bustle, Electric Literature, and BookPage

The life of vivek oji