Lákíríboto

By Ayodele Olofintuade

Published June 2023

9781739220709 / Paperback / £10.99

“Olofintuade’s language is seductive… [They] tell [their] story with vigour, with zeal and a presence of mind that leaves out no vital details.” – The Lagos Review

A twisty thriller about the fate of a sprawling family in Lagos, Lakiriboto is a queer, feminist revenge thriller like no other, in which murder, betrayal, and witchcraft collide – with explosive results.

Me I be Rita, I’m unforgiving, vengeful, and petty as fuck.

When her grandmother dies in the night, Moremi’s fate falls to her uncle, the grasping family chief who sends her off to work as a housemaid in Lagos. On arriving there, Moremi finds that the big city is not all she thought it would be. But she’s not alone. After another family death, Kudirat, accused of bringing misfortune to her close family, has also been sent to live as a maid in the same house, scrubbing floors and folding laundry for long-suffering Tola, whose abusive doctor husband refuses to treat. Together, with the help of her queer aunt Morieba, the four women must wrestle back control of their lives as the patriarchal traditions that govern the family push back against their freedoms. When Tola’s condition worsens, someone new emerges, someone with revenge and redemption in mind.

Mixing family saga, mobster pulp, and queer coming-of age, Lakiriboto is a staggeringly original and surprising novel about Nigeria’s queer and feminist communities, the struggles they face, and the lengths they will go to to overcome them.

Ayodele Olofintuade is a non-binary, Black feminist who is yet to understand the concept of cis-heteronormativity. They are the author of Lakiriboto (2023), Swallow: Efunsetan Aniwura (2022), and Eno’s Story (2010) which was shortlisted for the NLNG Prize for Literature in 2011. Olofintuade’s short stories, non-fiction, research and essays have been published in diverse international magazines and journals. They are presently researching indigenous peoples of Yoruba and ways their practices are intertwined with stewardship of the land and nature. They live in Ibadan with their kids and a pair of half-wild cats that they serve love and burnt offerings.