On Black Sisters' Street
  • Published: 15 September 2010
  • ISBN: 9780099523949
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 304
  • RRP: $29.99

On Black Sisters' Street

Formats & editions
EBook
30 Nov 2011
Paperback
15 Sep 2010
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A tale of choices, displacement and courage, suffused with the richness of the oral story-telling tradition and set against the backdrop of the Antwerp prostitute underworld.

Four very different women have made their way from Africa to Brussels. They have come to claim for themselves the riches they believe Europe promises but when Sisi, the most enigmatic of the women, is murdered, their already fragile world is shattered.

Drawn together by tragedy, the remaining three women - Joyce, a great beauty whose life has been destroyed by war; Ama, whose dark moods manifest a past injustice; Efe, whose efforts to earn her keep are motivated by a particular zeal - slowly begin to share their stories. They are stories of terror, of displacement, of love, and of a sinister man called Dele.
  • Published: 15 September 2010
  • ISBN: 9780099523949
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 304
  • RRP: $29.99
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About the author

Chika Unigwe

Chika Unigwe was born in Nigeria and now lives in Belgium with her husband and four children. She is an award-winning short story writer and the author of two novels, written in Dutch. On Black Sisters' Street was published by Jonathan Cape in 2009.

portrait photo of Chika Unigwe

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Praise for On Black Sisters' Street

On Black Sisters' Street is ultimately a story of female strength and resilience... the book draws on a rich oral story telling tradition to illuminate the West from an under-represented perspective

Aesthetica

Lively and engaging...Unigwe has a good ear for idiosyncratic language...On Black Sisters' Street is a pleasure to read: fast-paced, lucidly structured and colourful

Zoe Norridge, TLS

Gritty

Adrian Turpin, Financial Times

This harrowing subject matter is handled deftly by Unigwe, with lyrical insight and splashes of dark humour, in a book that is both thought-provoking and eye-opening

Doug Johnstone, The List

Exquisitely observed and heartbreaking

Nicola Barr, Guardian

Writing with great verve and charm, Belgium-based Unigwe describes the parameters of a half-life where dreams of big houses and plait extensions help to block out a grubby reality

Independent

Haunting story... Sometimes a novel can tell you more than any amount of documentary journalism.

The Observer

An important and accomplished novel that leaves a strong aftertaste. Unigwe gives voice to those who are voiceless, fleshes out the stories of those who offer themselves as meat for sale, and bestows dignity on those who are stripped off it.

Independent

Sobering... the humiliations endured by the quartet are forcefully driven home by Unigwe.

Sunday Times

This powerful book will leave you haunted

Ali Smith