Lagos Romance Series

Review at Mary Okeke Reviews

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Sun, 26 May 2013 18:51:00 +0000

Hidden Currents has just received a 4 star review over at Mary Okeke reviews!

You can read the review by clicking on the link below. As always, Mary's review is insightful and deep. So go read it.

Mary Okeke Reviews: Hidden Currents, 2013, Somi Ekhasomhi ****

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:49:00 +0000

In Nigeria, we are brought up on foreign movies, sitcoms and TV shows, foreign books and foreign news, we know how English should be spoken, and many of us who bother to read a lot, are very familiar with the colloquialisms of the west.

This is perhaps why, we do not recognize how much we miss our own particularly Nigerian way of expression, in the literature we read. It is perhaps why, when we read a phrase that is essentially Nigerian, in a novel like Americanah, “Tina-Tina, how now?” “Why are you looking like a mumu?” “How will you cope/how are you coping?” all familiar Nigerian modes of speech, we are infinitely grateful.
I am probably biased towards this novel, Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, not only because Adichie’s first novel, Purple Hibiscus, which I read as a very young girl, awoke in me the possibility of good writing and beautiful prose by a Nigerian like me, but because of the familiarity of the book.

It’s like the word Americanah, such a Nigerian word, used to describe someone who had lived abroad for so long, they no longer understand the nuances of being Nigerian. They use American swearwords, or complain that the fries at KFC Onikan are limp, even though you see nothing wrong with them. This is when you turn to someone who understands and say, (No mind am, na Americanah), Don’t mind him, he is an Americanah.
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Musings

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Sun, 19 May 2013 22:07:00 +0000

Yesterday I should have gone to school as I usually do, most Saturdays, to receive lectures in a dusty studio, with a dustier rug and tired air conditioners, but I didn't go. I stayed at home and got lost on the internet. I should have done some writing too, but I didn't, instead I toyed with my website.
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Update

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 12:31:00 +0000

Hi Everyone!

Hidden Currents is now a book on sale at Amazon and is no longer fully available on this blog. However you can still read the first three chapters here.
Read more »

Hidden Currents

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 14:17:00 +0000

Dear Readers,

I want to thank everybody who took the time to read Hidden Currents. I want to thank you for your comments, your advice and your time. It was an enjoyable journey and I look forward to doing it again with a new story and new characters.

Hidden Currents is now available for sale on Amazon at this link.

You can read it on your Kindles or Kindle Apps for other devices i.e PC, Laptop, ipad etc.

I have included a preview of the first three chapters here. Enjoy.

Hidden Currents - Preview.

Hidden Current - Cover

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 17:28:00 +0000

Hidden Currents is completed! :)

I hope you guys like how it ended.
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With Love, From Ada Arinze

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 17:26:00 +0000

Love is a beautiful thing, really. I have never been so happy in my life.

Chapter Twelve

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 17:20:00 +0000

I’m here with someone.

The words followed Ada around for the rest of the evening. Even after Eddie left, she kept on seeing his face, hearing those terrible words coming out of his mouth.
Read more »

Chapter Eleven

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 00:25:00 +0000

Ada had never worked as hard as she did in the week that followed. It was the only way she could push the feelings of helplessness, desperation, and frustration that came with thoughts of Eddie to the back of her mind. He was all she thought about, she couldn’t eat or sleep, it was only while she worked that she could forget, if only for a little while, the sight of that woman in Eddie’s arms, kissing him. Read more »

Chapter Ten

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 23:20:00 +0000

The whole office was buzzing with excitement about the TRANSCEND awards. Sophie printed every online article where either her name or Living Lagos was mentioned. She cut out more of the same from newspapers and magazines and pinned them on the notice board.

Ada tried to join in the excitement, but it was hard. She hadn’t heard from or seen Eddie since the night outside her apartment, she wanted to call and apologize, she had thought and thought about everything that happened and the more she thought about it, the more convinced she was that she had been wrong.
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Chapter Nine

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 19:03:00 +0000

The office should have felt a little cramped, with the addition of two new people, but it didn’t. A new desk had been added to the outer office for Clive and Fadeke to share, while Oliver, now Sophie’s assistant, retained his old desk. Lola Balogun, the new receptionist, sat at the desk by the door, the severity of her dark blue suit and smoothly braided hair belied by the good humored smile that never seemed to leave her face.

The space had been rearranged somewhat, so that Ada’s desk now occupied pride of place in a corner, confirming that she was the boss of the outer office. It was a jovial atmosphere that Monday morning, as everybody got to know each other. Lola had been a receptionist at a big multinational, before she resigned to have her kids, now that her last child was five years old she had decided to get a job again. The position Living Lagos had offered had been ideal for her.
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Chapter Eight - Preview

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 12:01:00 +0000

Ada started to miss him from the next morning, when he wasn’t waiting outside her gate to take her to the office, as he had done throughout the week before. She was also a little relieved, how could she face him after all the things she had said? After a sleepless night of thinking about their fight, she was no longer so sure that she hadn’t gone too far.

She wondered fretfully if the fight would somehow affect her job. She knew he wasn’t the type to put pressure on Sophie to fire her, even as Sophie wasn’t the type who would surrender to such pressure, but she fretted anyway.
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The Widow's Night

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:51:00 +0000

Widow

That’s a word I never thought would apply to me. Who ever thinks such a word would apply to them? I never thought of death, my own or that of the people close to me, maybe my children, when I fretted as they played in places where I couldn’t see them, rode their bikes off to the club, maybe then as I worried about them, it was death I was afraid of. I don’t know.

I never thought Dele would leave me, leave me alone to raise our children, I always thought that if anything I would go first. Dele was the one who was larger than life, the one who smiled, who laughed, who drank every drink and ate every meal with enjoyment, life for him was enjoyment, he approached everything, work, family, food, drink, sex with the same gusto and enthusiasm. I could always see him as an old man, a widower, still missing me but enjoying life to the fullest.

Now I was the one missing him, and not enjoying life so much. Sometimes I think of him and wish I were more like him, that I could defuse anger, make the children laugh and forget their troubles, just by being me, I am not like that. I am not like Dele was, nobody can be like him.
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Chapter Seven -Preview

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 01:49:00 +0000

Ada was on the phone with Eddie for most of the weekend. Granny couldn’t hide her surprise.

“Who is this person my Adanma cannot stop talking with?” She remarked again and again, in-between spoiling Ada silly with home cooked dishes. She was a slim, small woman, long past middle age, with numerous grey hairs adding character to the bun that was a permanent fixture on her head. She had been a schoolteacher, before she retired to run a provisions store. Like many women of her time, she prided herself on the fact that she had been educated during colonial times, before the corruption came and ruined the educational system, and like most of the women of that era, she carried herself with an inimitable elegance, that was obvious even when she was doing mundane things, like housework or cooking.
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Chapter Six - Preview

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 18:52:00 +0000

Sophie was talking about profit margins, advert sales and other such things, Ada wasn’t really listening, she was thinking about Eddie.

She had done that almost nonstop since their date, almost a week ago. It was embarrassing. It was pleasurable. She couldn’t have stopped if she tried, and she didn’t want to try.

The morning after her date with Eddie, he had surprised her by calling at about six am, to ask when she would be leaving for work. Every day since then, whenever she came out of the house, his car was there, waiting to take her with him on the long drive to the Island.
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Chapter Five - Preview

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 12:58:00 +0000

“Ada! Where is your mind? I’ve been talking to you for almost one full minute!”

Ada looked up in surprise and saw Sophie standing over her desk, wearing a curious expression. “Don’t tell me that you’ve gone and fallen in love,” Sophie continued teasingly. “Or please tell me that, it would truly make my day. It’s about time you fell in love anyway.”

“I haven’t fallen in love!” Ada protested, straightening up from the daydreaming slouch in which Sophie had caught her. “I just have a lot on my mind.”

“Yeah I know!” Sophie scoffed. “That’s why you had that mooning expression on your face!”

Ada sighed. Of course, she had been thinking about Eddie and the ‘kiss’ they had shared. Had she really kissed Eddie Bakare? She wondered what Sophie would say if she told her.

It seemed so wrong now, in retrospect. She shouldn’t have let him do that, she should have protested, or at least showed some displeasure afterwards.

What displeasure though? It had felt incredibly good.
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Chapter Four

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 23:28:00 +0000

“Tell you what?” Ada stammered, wondering if she had heard him right. There was no way he could have come all the way to her apartment just to ask about her personal feelings towards him!

He sighed. “I’m intruding, I know, and I’m sorry.” He paused as if waiting for her to say something to the contrary, perhaps that he wasn’t intruding. She stayed quiet.

“Look, I need to know.” He continued. “For some reason, even though I have never done anything bad to you that I know of, you dislike me.” There was an accusing note in his voice. Have I hurt his feelings, Ada wondered, or his pride?
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Chapter Three

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 21:38:00 +0000

It was a society wedding. The type where there were a lot of high profile people, no celebrities or sports people, just a lot of old money, a few politicians with old names, and their highly indulged offspring.

It was noisy, but it was a refined sort of noise; well-modulated voices of society matrons in conversation, their exclamations as they met the children of their friends - potential spouses for their children, the deep laughter of men, not too loud, just self-possessed, the way rich men laughed, not the loud, self-conscious cackling often attributed to the obsequious poor. Above the din, the live band played, alternating between old classics and modern sounds.

They were beautiful, Ada thought, these people. The women, with their expensive laces, sweet smelling perfumes and beautiful jewelry, - not the loud, heavy jewels of the classless rich, but subdued pieces of gold, pearls and precious stones that didn’t need to scream to get your attention. The men, with their distinguished airs, deep voices and impeccable manners, and their children, young, beautiful and stylish, with musical voices adorned with the best of British and American private school accents.
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Chapter Two

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 15:02:00 +0000

“I still don’t know why you couldn’t come to live with us.”

Ada looked up from the kitchen counters she was busy cleaning, at her brother, Zubi. He was her only sibling, if you didn’t include her father’s children with his second wife, whom she didn’t know at all. He was sitting on the tiny kitchen counter, swinging his legs like a small boy, with a slight frown on his face. Ada shook her head.

“Seriously?” She asked, getting up and moving to the gas cooker, to wipe the oven clean with a rag. She had moved in two days before, and since it was Saturday, Zubi had finally been able to come over to see what the place looked like. “You think the best thing is for me to move in with you and crowd your three bedroom apartment that already contains a wife, two children and a maid?”

“Why not?” He challenged with a frown that was so like hers. They looked so alike that it would have been safe to call him the taller, more masculine, version of her. “Some families of seven in this same city of Lagos live in just one room.” He continued. “Go to Ajegunle if you don’t believe me.”

Ada snorted in disbelief. “You’re just talking.” She said. “Have you ever been to Ajegunle?”

Always Yours

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 15:02:00 +0000

Dear Readers,

I've published Always Yours as a downloadable ebook on Amazon. You can now buy the kindle ebook, Lagos Romance Series - Always Yours at Amazon.com.

See Preview below.

The Beginning

Just thirty minutes. I told myself as I succumbed to the temptation to doze off in my office. Just thirty tiny minutes. It had been a long day and I was tired, plus even if I were caught, there was no one to tell me off. I was my own boss, after all.
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Chapter One

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 19:49:00 +0000

It was late afternoon. At that time of the day, Tafawa Balewa Square was not yet as busy as it would be later in the evening, when the labor force from Victoria Island, would arrive to queue for the buses that would take them over the bridges, to the mainland. Now there was a long queue of big, empty buses, with only a few passengers seated. The drivers waited impatiently for more people to arrive so that they could be on their way. Hawkers, selling cold drinks, fruits, boiled groundnuts, and other typical Lagos traffic snacks, sat impatiently on the curbs, disgruntled with the slow afternoon sales and eagerly awaiting the thirsty, hungry crowd that would soon arrive.

On the other side of the road, in front of the old tennis club, Ada Arinze watched as two children in school uniforms walked along the sidewalk, holding hands. The bigger child, a girl about eight years old, wore a red pinafore, a pink check shirt, black rubber shoes, and a pair of white socks that reached up to her knees. The boy, much smaller, wore the same except that instead of the pinafore he was wearing red shorts.

Ada was already reaching for the camera hanging down from her neck. The movement, almost involuntary, happened whenever she sensed a good picture. Her slim, caramel skinned, medium height figure was casually dressed in blue jeans, black sneakers and a purple T-shirt, her thick cloud of tightly curled, springy hair, narrowly prevented from becoming a sky-high afro, by a wide purple headband.

The little boy was kicking his feet idly, with the girl holding one of his hands to keep him from skipping away. Siblings, Ada thought, on their way from school. She took a couple of pictures. She captured the little boy as he jumped too far ahead of his sister and her subsequent warning for him to stay in line, one hand on her waist and one finger pointing towards his upturned nose.
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Introducing..... Hidden Currents!

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Hello Everyone!

I'm sure you've all noticed that chapters 1 - 14 of the first 'Lagos Romance' have been moved. You can now read all the chapters at here.

Watch this space for Ada and Eddie's romance..... Hidden Currents.

Will start posting soonest.....

Lots of love.

Somi Ekhasomhi.

In conclusion - Chapter preview

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 11:38:00 +0000

Not engaged.

Somehow my brain still couldn’t process what he had just said. I couldn’t move, or say anything coherent. I searched his face for some clue as to the meaning of the bomb he had just dropped. I could only see his eyes, searching mine, waiting for a reaction... Read more

Want the full story? Buy Always Yours by Somi Ekhasomhi on Amazon

Want to read Ada's story? Buy Hidden Currents on Amazon

Dessert - Chapter preview

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 09:48:00 +0000

I sat there watching him for a few moments. He had gone right back to sleep and was breathing deeply and steadily. I watched as his chest rose and fell with each breath and sighed softly. Why was I sitting watching him sleep, I asked myself, was I waiting for him to say something else, to back up what he had just said with further declarations? I got up. What did it matter what he said in the grip of sleep, I thought, as I switched off the lights and left the room, He would probably not remember any of those words in the morning.

I spent some time working in the living room, curled up on the couch, with my computer on my lap, and the sound of the TV as background noise to keep me company. After a while the sounds of the rain outside stopped, and then the standby power generators went silent as the power from the grid came back on. I worked until long after midnight, finishing the rough draft of an article based on the interviews I had done during the day. Finally I fell asleep, or I think I did, the last thing I remember was deciding to close my eyes for a moment

I don’t know what woke me. It may have been the flash of lightning, the sound of the rain starting again, a sound from the TV I hadn’t bothered to switch off, or it may have been Michael, standing at the end of the couch, watching me sleep. I sat up, my brain still very fuzzy as I wondered groggily why morning had come so quickly. Michael watched me as I stretched and yawned. “Hey.” I said, mid yawn. “Good morning.”

“It’s not morning yet.” He said.... Read more

Want the full story? Buy Always Yours by Somi Ekhasomhi on Amazon

Want to read Ada's story? Buy Hidden Currents on Amazon

Dinner For Two - Chapter preview

noreply@blogger.com (Somi Ekhasomhi) — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 16:39:00 +0000

It was still raining heavily when I pulled into the parking lot at my building, I had driven a little bit faster than usual, scared by the lightning, and the electric pole burning. I was still shaken and as I stopped the engine I let out a sigh of relief. I turned to Michael, surprised by the amusement I could see on his face, his eyes were dancing with suppressed laughter.

“What’s so funny?” I asked him, suddenly embarrassed by my show of panic.

“I didn’t know you were so scared of lightning.” He said, smiling. “It was interesting to watch, especially when you started driving like we were escaping a gang of assassins.”

I pursed my lips. “I should have stayed there and waited for the power cables to fall on the car.” I said. “I’m sure you would have found that very funny.”

“Well it couldn’t have killed us.” He said smugly. “There’s no power.”... Read more

Want the full story? Buy Always Yours by Somi Ekhasomhi on Amazon

Want to read Ada's story? Buy Hidden Currents on Amazon