Holiday Blues

Book excerpt: Take two teenage friends, cross their paths with two bad brothers during one holiday break, and this is what you get. The secondary school-attending friends are Jon, schooling out of town at Port Harcourt, and Lasy whose school is closer home to their small town of Aboh near Orlu in eastern Nigeria. Jon's story is one of mistaken identity and is tied to his older sister Mary to whom he has an emotional attachment. Lasy's story is that of pursuit of local fame that puts him in direct competition with bad brother number two, Chamberlain. Set in early 1980s Nigeria, HB captures a bit of the culture and social issues of the time: juvenile delinquency, exam fraud, poor infrastructure, bad electricity, corrupt policemen at road checkpoints, chaotic traffic, malaria, ghetto jungle justice, traditional customs and beliefs. You are also taken on panoramic trips within a rural setting in eastern Nigeria, from east across the River Niger to Lagos in the west, and within Lagos itself.