Blessings

Chukwuebuka Ibeh (author)

Fiction & Poetry, Modern & Contemporary Fiction | Paperback Published on: 09/01/2025

£9.99

15 reviews

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Published 09/01/2025

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Bookseller Reviews

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This is How You Do a Debut

Never mind this being an incredible debut, this was an incredible book, full stop! This story was so beautiful and so gorgeously constructed. The dual POVs... READ MORE

Leigh Boyle

A Searing Debut

An intimate and powerful coming-of-age novel. Obiefuna is banished to a Christian boarding school when his father witnesses him sharing an intimate moment ... READ MORE

Jen at Windsor

One to Watch!

Thank you to the Publisher for an advance copy of this novel. A real talent, I am blown away by Ibeh’s mature and nuanced writing and his debut novel, B... READ MORE

Chloë at Cheltenham Waterstones

One to watch

Blessings is a captivating, intimate, debut novel from Ibeh, who shows all the signs of a future literary star. From the beautiful prose to the raw emotio... READ MORE

Sarah P

Synopsis

When Obiefuna's father witnesses an intimate moment between his teenage son and the family's apprentice, newly arrived from the nearby village, he banishes Obiefuna to a Christian boarding school marked by strict hierarchy and routine, devastating violence. Utterly alienated from the people he loves, Obiefuna begins a journey of self-discovery and blossoming desire, while his mother Uzoamaka grapples to hold onto her favourite son, her truest friend.

Interweaving the perspectives of Obiefuna and his mother Uzoamaka, as they reach towards a future that will hold them both, Blessings is an elegant and exquisitely moving story of love and loneliness. Asking how we can live freely when politics reaches into our hearts and lives, as well as deep into our consciousness, it is a stunning, searing debut.

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780241618271
Number of pages: 256
Weight: 182g
Dimensions: 198 x 128 x 15 mm

Customer Reviews

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Heartbreaking but important read

For a small book this packs a punch! Blessings tells the story of Obiefuna. When his father witnesses an intimate moment between his son and an apprent... READ MORE

Kelly Smeeton

Ibeh is a powerful new voice

4.5 Chukwuebuka Ibeh's novel brings a powerful new voice from Nigeria. Blessings is the story of Obiefuna, whose only "crime" is to fall in love with... READ MORE

Kateoshea

Emotional, beautiful storytelling

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Madeleine Stormer

A beautiful novel

Obiefuna is the beloved first son, but his brother Ekene is more of what their parents want from a son. Obiefuna, more interested in artistic things, is b... READ MORE

Ben Dutton

Powerful, sensitive .. a stunning debut

Sometimes you read a book that you know will last with you for along time ahead; Blessings is one of these books. Obiefuna never fitted in with all the... READ MORE

Stephen - the bookworm

Original and captivating

This is a remarkable book, relating the experience of Obefiuna, a boy growing up in Nigeria. It delivers a fantastic sense of place and reminds readers in... READ MORE

Ann

A powerful yet sensitively written story, and a striking debut.

When Obiefuna’s father sees a brief, intimate moment between his teenage son and a boy apprenticed to the family, Obiefuna is sent away to a strict religio... READ MORE

Roisin Russell

Blessings is a heart-wrenching, beautifully written story that grabs you immediately.

Blessings is a heart-wrenching, beautifully written story that grabs you immediately. This book is so special because it flips between Obiefuna's story... READ MORE

Catrina Walters

A poignant coming-of-age story

Spanning a decade in Nigeria beginning in 2006, Chukwuebuka Ibeh’s’s debut is a poignant coming-of-age story in which a boy struggles to keep his sexuality... READ MORE

Susan Osborne

Beautiful

NO SPOILERS The publisher’s description tells you all you need to know about the plot, story, themes and veracity of Blessings. What it doesn’t tell you... READ MORE

Rebecca Masterman

A very promising debut

There are some really poignant and fascinating questions asked in Ibeh's debut, highlighting not simply the constant struggles of the LGBTQ+ community in a... READ MORE

Kit Nevile

Blessings

Bookseller Reviews

Synopsis

Customer Reviews

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