Suitors Are Scarce in Lagos: Stories

Book excerpt: Suitors are Scarce in Lagos is a collection of ten short fiction which captures the myriad experiences of women, men, and young adults in one of the busiest cities in West Africa - Lagos. "Who is Sane in Lagos?" takes the reader through a typical day on the road in Lagos. In "A Bullet from Nowhere," a newly-wed bride relocates from the countryside to Lagos to live with her husband, but falls into unintentional prostitution. In "Caged Bird," a Boko Haram escapee couple arrives Lagos only to be sucked into the fast pace of Lagos life. In the title story, a suitor-seeking woman discovers that suitors are scarce in Lagos in spite of the teeming male population of the city. Similarly, all the other stories build themselves around the geographical fabric of Lagos. The collection interrogates the features of Lagos. It probes into the demographics that make up the city, including its people, its glamour and color, and its raw dogged determination to succeed no matter the odds. The stories excoriate the peculiar vices of Lagos. In addition to its variegated thematic elements, the collection employs simple language, humor, and sarcasm to reveal that it is not only suitors that are scarce in Lagos, but other human aspirations and desires also. Suitors are Scarce in Lagos has the potential to become a tour de force on the bourgeoning Lagos genre.