Vagabonds!

A Novel

By: Eloghosa Osunde

Narrated by: Arit Okpo, Atta Otigba, Eloghosa Osunde, Ifeyinwa Unachukwu, Obongjayar, Sheila Chukwulozie

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORKER

LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE AND THE VCU CABELL FIRST NOVELIST AWARD

“If you read one debut novel in 2022, this should be it.” —Los Angeles Times

In the bustling streets and cloistered homes of Lagos, a cast of vivid characters—some haunted, some defiant—navigate danger, demons, and love in a quest to lead true lives.

As in Nigeria, vagabonds are those whose existence is literally outlawed: the queer, the poor, the displaced, the footloose and rogue spirits. They are those who inhabit transient spaces, who make their paths and move invisibly, who embrace apparitions, old vengeances and alternative realities. Eloghosa Osunde's brave, fiercely inventive novel traces a wild array of characters for whom life itself is a form of resistance: a driver for a debauched politician with the power to command life and death; a legendary fashion designer who gives birth to a grown daughter; a lesbian couple whose tender relationship sheds unexpected light on their experience with underground sex work; a wife and mother who attends a secret spiritual gathering that shifts her world. As their lives intertwine—in bustling markets and underground clubs, churches and hotel rooms—vagabonds are seized and challenged by spirits who command the city's dark energy. Whether running from danger, meeting with secret lovers, finding their identities, or vanquishing their shadowselves, Osunde's characters confront and support one another, before converging for the once-in-a-lifetime gathering that gives the book its unexpectedly joyous conclusion.

Blending unvarnished realism with myth and fantasy, Vagabonds! is a vital work of imagination that takes us deep inside the hearts, minds, and bodies of a people in duress—and in triumph.

Magic

This book draws you in, cuts to your very core, and mends you right back. A truly magical (spiritual, more like) experience.

Loved it!!!

If I could've given 10 stars I would've. The performances, the story line the twists and turns just amazing. I was so engaged I was saying "redacted" before the narrators. 😆
If it's your first time listening to a book like this where there are several different stories happening at once it may be a bit confusing but stick it out!!! It all comes together beautifully at the end. 😊

Loved it!

Such a wonderful book. The narration was lovely and almost magical. It was a little hard to keep track of the characters and the stories but other than that it was perfect. Will be checking out more from this author.

Perfection!

This story is so whole, and so perfect. It has a voice unlike any other I’ve ever read

Powerful and Visionary

This is a work of remarkable power and vision. Everything about it is so wonderfully, authentically Nigerian. Well done, Eloghosa Osunde.