People of the City

Starred review from February 10, 2020
The late Nigerian author Ekwensi, in his electric debut novel, originally published in 1963, follows the exploits of Amusa Sango in mid-20th-century Lagos. Sango works as a crime reporter for the West African Sensation, plays in a dance band, rents a room in a fine home where he lives with his houseboy, and enjoys the lush vibrancy of the city. Yet his dreams are thwarted by government corruption, the elitist attitudes of the upper class, and his own selfishness. Sango is a womanizer and has one-night stands with what seems an endless stream of young, beautiful women available to him. But when his relationship with the beguiling thief Aina and the illegal schemes of his friend Bayo lead to his being evicted, Sango becomes increasingly aimless and frustrated. He flits from one girl to another, hides his situation from his ailing mother, and continues to engage in reckless if truthful reporting on the rampant corruption in the city. Ekwensi (1921–2007) paints a vivid picture of cultural cacophony in a modernizing Nigeria filled with colonizers, revolutionaries, dreamers, and schemers. The mesmerizing tale and its feckless, frustrating protagonist provide stark glimpses into the class struggles, misogyny, and violence that often lurk beneath a bustling metropolis.