Lead Review (An Unusual Grief)

• Book: An Unusual Grief
• Location: Gauteng, Johannesburg
• Author: Yewande Omotoso

Review Author: tripfiction

3.75*

Mojisola Owolabi has to deal with the death of her daughter, Yinka. She flies in to Johannesburg to sort out her child’s flat and negotiates with the landlady, Zelda Petersen, a suitable short term rent whilst she gathers her wits and makes the necessary arrangements. Zelda has already summarily begun packing up the apartment but Mum Mojisola needs time to reflect. She finds the apartment in a state of a life interrupted.

She is literally stepping into the shoes of her daughter, as she explores her life through the apartment in stasis. Her daughter’s phone gives up clues about her recent connections, highlighting the contacts and friends she had. As Mojisola delves into her life, she reminisces about her own life, her childhood in Yorubaland, her relationship with her husband and where she is now. She discovers things about Yinka’s life that she didn’t know. As she steps into Yinka’s life, she has to learn to manage her own responses to the discoveries she makes.

Trawling back through her own life, she acknowledges that “The memories are a drug…” numbing yet somehow revitalising. They are helping her cope.

The story sweeps around, back and forth, focussing on the loss, and tenderly exploring the nature of grief. Part way through it ramps into a slightly different style, as new characters are introduced, and that gentle and well-penned opening gives way to a harsher reality and style of writing.

An interesting read if you are heading to South Africa

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