Dazzling
Chikọdịlị Emelụmadụ
Paperback / Hardcover / Ebook
ISBN: 9781472289650
Wildfire – Headline, February 2023, 353 pgs

Chikọdịlị Emelụmadụ’s 2023 novel Dazzling invites readers into the lives of Treasure and Ozoemena after each loses her father, thrusting them in the path of gods and spirits. In the wake of Treasure’s dad’s death, her mom’s grief leaves her bedridden and depressed. Treasure must support the family by selling and begging in the marketplace, where a spirit latches on to her with the intention of making Treasure his wife by any means necessary. Ozoemena’s father has left home with no trace of where he’s gone, leaving Ozoemena adrift in her family obligations and with little answer to the strange occurrences steadily plaguing her. Answers come in time, but they only complicate the matter of her father’s disappearance and the legacy he left unsaid.

I have had Emelụmadụ’s book on my to-be-read pile since it came out and am very excited to finally be able to review it. What took me so long to get to it had a lot to do with how intricate and complex the book is. Not only is Dazzling split between multiple POVs written in different styles, but there are also different time periods woven throughout. Dazzling is not a book that I would call a relaxing read, but a truly engaging one with so much going on, both on the surface and within its themes.

Treasure and Ozoemena’s stories lie at the center of this novel, and the two tales race toward and dance around each other. Treasure tries to get away from the spirit that wants to claim her by feeding it other girls in her neighborhood and school. Ozoemena, a fellow classmate, learns that she is the next Leopard—an ancient spirit part of a secret society that inhabits someone in Ozoemena’s bloodline. While they are each fighting their own spiritual battles, in many ways they are the same battle.

Ozoemena’s spirit, a wild beast centuries old and connected to the Igbo goddess, Idemili, slowly takes over more parts of her life, giving her dark dreams and at times taking over her body. Treasure’s spirit, a dark force that gives her gifts and promises her he’ll bring her father back to life if she agrees to help him, pushes her to do whatever it takes to keep her family safe and her out of the clutches of the rageful spirit. Parasites, both of them, seeping away at both girls as they try to rebuild their lives in the shadow of grief.

Grief. Death. Spirits. Mythology. Religion.

That’s the story world Treasure and Ozoemena must navigate. Emelụmadụ expertly builds their story with a deep connection to Igbo and Nigerian culture, making this tale distinctly African, not of the Western narrative landscape. For me, it offered a rich distinctness that kept me plugged in and actively engaged in being told a tale by an expert storyteller. If you have not picked up Dazzling, it’s a thoughtful and engaging read for any fan of Nigerian fabulist fiction.