READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR "A vibrant
coming-of-age story." — Charmaine Wilkerson "I was completely immersed.” — Nita Prose From the
acclaimed author of Wahala a stunning reimagining of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park: Split
between England and Nigeria two extraordinary cousins are set on vastly different paths as
they come to terms with their shared family history—a masterful exploration of race identity
and love. Quiet Funke is happy in Nigeria. She loves her art teacher mother her professor
father and even her annoying little brother (most of the time). But when tragedy strikes
she’s sent to England a place she knows only from her mother’s stories. To her dismay she
finds the much-lauded estate dilapidated the food tasteless the weather grey. Worse still
her mother’s family are cold and distant. With one exception: her cousin Liv. Free-spirited Liv
has always wanted to break free of her joyless family. She becomes fiercely protective of her
little cousin and her warmth and kindness give Funke a place to heal. The two girls grow into
adulthood the closest of friends. But the choices their mothers made haunt Funke and Liv and
when a second tragedy occurs their friendship is torn apart. Against the long shadow of their
shared family history each woman will struggle to chart a path forward separated by country
misunderstanding and ambition. Moving between Somerset and Lagos over the course of two
decades This Motherless Land is a sweeping examination of identity culture race and love
that asks how we find belonging and whether a family’s generational wrongs can be righted.
