Sankofa: A Novel

Written by Chibundu Onuzo

Narrated by Sara Powell

The exhilarating story of a mixed-race woman who goes in search of the African father she never knew.

After years of being a daughter, a wife, and a mother, Anna finally has the time to wonder who she really is. But the only person who can tell her-her mother, the only parent who raised her-is dead.

Searching through her mother's belongings one day, Anna uncovers a few clues about her father, whom she never knew. Student diaries chronicle his involvement in radical politics in 1970s London, involvement that eventually led him to return to Africa, where he became the president-some would say dictator-of a small nation in West Africa. And he is still alive.

When Anna decides to track her father down, a journey begins that is disarmingly moving, funny, and fascinating. It raises universal questions of race and belonging, the overseas experience for the African diaspora, and the search for a family's hidden roots. Masterful in its examination of freedom, prejudice, and personal and public inheritance, Sankofa is a story for anyone who has ever gone looking for a clear identity or home and found something more complex in its place.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Oct 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781666153408

Reviews for Sankofa

[Jessica Burnett · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It resonates in unexpected ways. The protagonist is boring and repetitive at times and very frustrating, but there may be hope for her yet

[margaret leon · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful story…well narrated with great voices and accents….made you feel like you were with Anna

[Chelsea · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Slow and gentle slice of life at first. Eventually filled with contradictions paradoxes and conflicts. Bravery to overcome. Courage to heal.

[Robin Herbert · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Exquisite story, beautifully written and highly readable.
A middle aged biracial woman in London, raised by a single mother, embarks on a journey of discovery to learn about her long missing African father, who'd gone from being a radical African student in London to overthrowing the colonialist rule of his small African country to being its leader. In the process, she learns about her own middle aged life and comes to a better understanding of the complexities of her now deposed, complicated father.

[Teri Gillams · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved this story of culture, family and finding that which was yet to be discovered!

[Ann G Miller-Sobel · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellently woven tale of a woman’s discovery of a father she never knew. Then she discovers herself in the journey.

[Julie Mishol · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting story of a woman searching for her father and finding herself