Book Review | Easy Motion Tourist by Leye Adenle | Fiction published by Cassava Republic

BOOK: Easy Motion Tourist.

AUTHOR: Leye Adenle

PUBLISHER: Cassava Republic

REVIEWER : Nana Sule

“In the open gutter by the road, flourishing with wild vegetation and an assortment of discarded plastic bags, lay the body of a girl”

What Guy Collins, a British journalist would find on his second night in Lagos, Nigeria, would be the body of a young girl, devoid of its breasts. He would have originally come to cover the presidential elections for his news line. He would have fought amongst his colleagues to be in Nigeria, only so he could return to Mel - his ex. To tell her how Nigerian he could be, and how she needed to take him back for he understood her people.

But he would get arrested by the Nigerian Police, he would almost sleep in a Nigerian cell, and he would meet the beautiful Amaka. And Amaka would steer him in another direction.

“I work for a charity. We work with prostitutes. We give them counselling, financial support, shelter if they need it, medical aid, that sort of thing. Prostitution is illegal in Nigeria. So nobody watches out for these girls. They are molested, extorted, short changed, raped, killed, you name it”

She would introduce him to the world she coordinates. There, where a safe system has been created for the girls registered with her, and where one had somehow turned up in the gutter. She would direct his writing to the existence of a society under men, who deal in human parts at night, yet control the nation’s affairs in the day.

And between finding the girls’ killer, bringing down the men of the underworld and hunting their ring leader, Amaka and Guy would find themselves with affections dancing between them.

What Leye did was explore the power of individual choices and their resultant effect on the society at large.

“God says be patient, but the devil says I will give you now. And we believe in God as much as we believe in the devil”

But for the need for good living, people are often pushed into things they ordinarily wouldn’t do. Be they the thugs at the bottom, or the faceless leader of the body part market- Malik.

Interestingly, the best part of this fiction will be in the droplets of humor, the Fela inspired title, and the closing. The imageries, so vivid, you will see the shock in Amaka’s face, when she hears the voice on the other line say,

“I hear you have been looking for me, my name is Malik”

And that is where the story will end. And we will continue to wonder what becomes of Amaka and Guy.

Easy Motion Tourist is a fast paced, well knotted tale of poverty, lack of apathy and much more. A worthy book for your reading shelf.