Chigozie Obioma, on Facebook days ago, unveiled the cover for his forthcoming second novel, the beautifully-titled An Orchestra of Minorities. We do not know who the cover designer is but this is a beautiful one.

In May 2017, we announced the book’s acquisition by Little, Brown for release in 2019. That date, however, has changed: An Orchestra of Minorities will now be available on September 4, 2018, three years after his multi-awarded, Booker Prize-shortlisted debut The Fishermen.

The Bookseller reported that the novel, initially slated to be called The Falconer, will be “about the life of a troubled young poultry farmer who sacrifices everything to win the woman he loves.”  It is already being hailed as “an epic of Igbo civilisation.”

Chigozie Obioma.

Here is a synopsis:

Set on the outskirts of Umuahia, Nigeria and narrated by a chi, or guardian spirit, AN ORCHESTRA OF MINORITIES tells the story of Chinonso, a young poultry farmer whose soul is ignited when he sees a woman attempting to jump from a highway bridge. Horrified by her recklessness, Chinonso joins her on the roadside and hurls two of his prized chickens into the water below to express the severity of such a fall. The woman, Ndali, is stopped her in her tracks.

Bonded by this night on the bridge, Chinonso and Ndali fall in love. But Ndali is from a wealthy family and struggles to imagine a future near a chicken coop. When her family objects to the union because he is uneducated, Chinonso sells most of his possessions to attend a college in Cyprus. But when he arrives he discovers there is no place at the school for him, and that he has been utterly duped by the young Nigerian who has made the arrangements.. Penniless, homeless, and furious at a world which continues to relegate him to the sidelines, Chinonso gets further away from his dream, from Ndali and the farm he called home.

A contemporary twist of Homer’s Odyssey, in the mythic style of the Igbo literary tradition, Chigozie Obioma weaves a heart-wrenching epic about destiny and determination.

Congratulations to Chigozie Obioma and his industry.

Pre-order An Orchestra of Minorities on Amazon.