BOOKS
Things They Lost
by Okwiri Oduor
(One World Publications, ISBN 9780861543878)
Twelve-year-old Ayosa inhabits a world of blurred boundaries. Her memories pre-date her birth; wraiths, ghosts, emotions and nightmares are as real and compelling to her as her human interactions; and her love-hate relationship with her mother Nabumbo defies the normal rules of dependency. Ayosa is desperate to be wanted and loved, but Nabumbo, whose own childhood was torn apart by tragedy, is unable to fulfil the role she has been given. Instead she is often absent: either physically so, when she escapes for weeks or months at a time to pursue
