This story reminded me a lot of Mistry’s A Fine Balance. I admired her ability to weave the characters stories and reveal so much through showing rather than telling. The tragedies felt earned but not inevitable and every word of the story felt like it described the situation perfectly. it was difficult to read at times because of the subjects, but all were handled very well. 

A Spell of Good Things showcases the lives of two very different families in Nigeria. 

Eniola is a boy who looks like a man, but one stuck in a never ending cycle of poverty since his father lost his job. There's never enough money to buy food, pay rent and pay for his and his sister's school fees or apprenticeship. No matter how hard his mother tries, she just can't make ends meet. 

Wuraola is a young doctor from a wealthy family, exhausted and constantly under pressure at work, money is not an issue for her. She has her own problems though, her boyfriend Kunle is volatile and controlling, yet she's ignoring the red flags because of the societal pressure to be married. When Eniola discovers a way to make some easy money, he sets himself on a collision course with Wuraola's family; one that is doomed to end in tragedy.

This is a hard-hitting and thought provoking novel. It doesn't shy away from difficult and painful topics. The author puts a spotlight on the soul crushing reality of living in poverty. Of borrowing from Bill to pay Ben, but never knowing where the money to pay Bill back will come from. You can't help but feel for Eniola; forced to go to school by his parents because education is the most important thing, yet whipped every morning because his parent's have not paid the school fees. Adébáyọ̀ truly brings the plight of his family to life.

The wealth disparity is equally hard-hitting; Wuraola's family is as far apart from the poverty of Eniola's that it's jarring. Her narrative has it's own darkly powerful moments though, shining a light on domestic abuse and the reasons those emmeshed find to stay. There were moments where I genuinely wanted to scream at her. With both families getting involved in local politics but in very different ways, the collision course is set even if they don't know it yet.

All in all, this is a powerful and hard hitting novel. It's slow moving and Adébáyọ̀ spends a lot of time building up the characters and side characters. I quite appreciated this, it brought the lives of the individuals stark definition. It is also undeniably bleak at points; whilst there is humour, it can't hide the misery, poverty and abuses on display.