"Set to be one of the best books of 2023" GQ Magazine "Soaring, spellbinding, utterly epic" MUSA OKWONGA"A time-travelling wonder of a read" PATERSON JOSEPH WHERE IS ADA? In a small village in West Africa, in what will one day become Ghana, Ada gives birth again, and again the baby does not live. As she grieves the loss of her child, Portuguese traders become the first white men to arrive in the village, an event that will bear terrible repercussions for Ada and her kin. WHEN IS ADA? Centuries later, Ada will become the mathematical genius Ada Lovelace; Ada, a prisoner forced into prostitution in a Nazi concentration camp; and Ada, a young, pregnant Ghanaian woman with a new British passport who arrives in Berlin in 2019 for a fresh start. WHO IS ADA? Ada is not one woman, but many, and she is all women - she revolves in orbits, looping from one century and from one place to the next. And so, she experiences the hardship but also the joy of womanhood: she is a victim, she offers resistance, and she fights for her independence. This long-awaited debut from Sharon Dodua Otoo paints an astonishing picture of femininity, resilience and struggle with deep empathy and humour, with vivid language and infinite imagination."An impressive and highly original work, brimming over with energy" TLS "Ada's Realm pushes boundaries . . . More power to her pen!" MARGARET BUSBY "Thrillingly, astonishingly original." R. O. KWON "A work of fierce imagination" NII AYIKWEI PARKES "A rule-shattering novel" Kirkus ReviewsTranslated from the German by Jon Cho-Polizzi
Show more"Set to be one of the best books of 2023" GQ Magazine "Soaring, spellbinding, utterly epic" MUSA OKWONGA"A time-travelling wonder of a read" PATERSON JOSEPH WHERE IS ADA? In a small village in West Africa, in what will one day become Ghana, Ada gives birth again, and again the baby does not live. As she grieves the loss of her child, Portuguese traders become the first white men to arrive in the village, an event that will bear terrible repercussions for Ada and her kin. WHEN IS ADA? Centuries later, Ada will become the mathematical genius Ada Lovelace; Ada, a prisoner forced into prostitution in a Nazi concentration camp; and Ada, a young, pregnant Ghanaian woman with a new British passport who arrives in Berlin in 2019 for a fresh start. WHO IS ADA? Ada is not one woman, but many, and she is all women - she revolves in orbits, looping from one century and from one place to the next. And so, she experiences the hardship but also the joy of womanhood: she is a victim, she offers resistance, and she fights for her independence. This long-awaited debut from Sharon Dodua Otoo paints an astonishing picture of femininity, resilience and struggle with deep empathy and humour, with vivid language and infinite imagination."An impressive and highly original work, brimming over with energy" TLS "Ada's Realm pushes boundaries . . . More power to her pen!" MARGARET BUSBY "Thrillingly, astonishingly original." R. O. KWON "A work of fierce imagination" NII AYIKWEI PARKES "A rule-shattering novel" Kirkus ReviewsTranslated from the German by Jon Cho-Polizzi
Show moreBorn in London in 1972 to Ghanaian parents, SHARON DODUA OTOO is an political activist and novelist living in Berlin. After having published several newspaper articles and two novellas in English, she wrote a short story in German which was later awarded the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize (2016), one of Germany's most renowned literary awards. She is politically active with several civil rights organisations, including the Initiative Black People in Germany (ISD), a Black queer feminist organisation called ADEFRA, and Phoenix.Ada's Realm is her first novel.
Ada's Realm is a time-travelling wonder of a read. Spanning
centuries and lifetimes, this novel manages to both humorously and
effortlessly lead the reader through a landscape of time, place and
trauma that never feels forced . . . for anyone who loves their
history packing a darkly funny punch
*Paterson Joseph*
Set to be one of the best books of 2023 . . . Each narrative is
connected by an underlying thread, with all of them exploring the
misery and joy of womanhood, as well as themes of emancipation,
resistance, and freedom.
*GQ Magazine*
It's always exciting to discover new talent in the global literary
arena, and Sharon Dodua Otoo's writing defies expectations. Ada's
Realm pushes boundaries in terms of language, form, character and
time, challenging perceptions of what it means to be African, an
African woman, in both historical and contemporary terms. More
power to her pen!
*editor of NEW DAUGHTERS OF AFRICA*
Thrillingly, astonishingly original. You will not have read
anything quite like this before.
*author of THE INCENDIARIES*
A work of fierce imagination, by turns visceral, measured and
experimental.
*Nii Ayikwei Parkes*
Otoo's captivating use of language is the thread that ties these
varying yet overlapping tales together . . . An impressive and
highly original work, brimming over with energy.
*Times Literary Supplement*
Operates both on earth and in a heavenly in-between space . . .
[W]ry, caring, funny . . . [T]he story's time-jumping,
identity-shedding slipperiness is reminiscent of Woolf's
Orlando.
*New York Times*
Intriguing, mysterious, and charming
*Oprah Daily*
Fast-moving and never dull, all in the service of highlighting the
injustices faced by women through history
*Guardian*
Its boldness and ambition leave an indelible imprint . . . A
rule-shattering novel about the presentness of the past.
*Kirkus Reviews*
[Otoo] finds a form that uses the possibilities of storytelling and
the joy of experimentation to open up space for her characters.
*Berliner Zeitung*
A singular voice in contemporary German-language literature
*Tagesspiegel*
Otoo blasts established narrative boundaries.
*eigermonchjungfrau.blog*
A absolutely astonishing story
*Andreas Platthaus*
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