The Bead Collector: A novel by Sefi Atta

Atta doesnt feel the need to disguise ideas and debate in fiction they are one and the same. –Yewande Omotoso, writing in Publishers Weekly, 10 Essential African Novels

The Bead Collector is centered around a dialogue between two women, but radiates out through family and society and the political realm in Nigeria to form a vast, rich dialogue, one, ultimately, between tradition and progress. Sefi Atta has crafted yet another stunning novel, a deeply compelling, illuminating story of personal and national identity in a time of great transition –Gayle Brandeis, author of The Book of Dead Birds, winner of the Bellwether Prize for Fiction of Social Engagement

A new novel from Wole Soyinka prize-winning author of Everything Good Will Come.

Lagos, January 1976, six years after the Nigerian Civil War. A new military regime has been in power for six months, but rumors are spreading that a countercoup is imminent. At an art exhibition in the affluent Ikoyi neighborhood, Remi Lawal, a Nigerian woman who runs her own greeting-card shop, meets Frances Cooke, who introduces herself as an American art dealer, in Nigeria to buy rare beads. They become friends and over the next few weeks confide in each other about their aspirations, loyalties, marriage, motherhood?and Nigeria itself, as hospitable Remi welcomes the enigmatic Frances into her world.
Remi?s husband, Tunde, naturally suspects Frances?like any American in Lagos?of gathering intelligence for the CIA, yet she is unconvinced. Cynical about the country?s unending instability, and alienated by the shallowness of the city?s elite, she willingly shares her views with Frances. But the February 13 assassination of General Muhammed prompts Remi to reconsider one particular conversation with her new acquaintance in a different light. Her discouragement overcome by a reawakened sense of patriotism, she begins to doubt that the bead collector is who she claims to be.
With her signature subtlety and wit, Sefi Atta recasts the international espionage tale by bringing the intrigue and politics of family life to the fore. The story of a brief friendship, The Bead Collector reveals one Nigerian mother?s yearning?amid legacies of conflict and uncertainty?to help build her country from home.

Sefi Atta was born in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1964. She is the author of Everything Good Will Come, Swallow, News from Home, A Bit of Difference and Sefi Atta: Selected Plays. Atta has received several literary awards, including the 2006 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa and the 2009 Noma Award for Publishing in Africa. Her radio plays have been broadcast by the BBC and her stage plays have been performed internationally. She divides her time between the United States, England and Nigeria.