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The Road to the Country: A Novel Audiobook
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A sweeping, heart-racing, mystical novel about a university student in Lagos trying to save his brother, and himself, amid the chaos of Nigeria’s civil war—a story of love, friendship, and personal triumph by the two-time Booker Prize finalist and “the heir to Chinua Achebe” (New York Times)
“A wondrous novel.”—Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Chain-Gang All Stars, finalist for the National Book Award
“Chigozie Obioma is that rare thing: an original. His world is a mix of the real and the folkloric, and his writing sounds like no one else’s.”—The Wall Street Journal
The first images of the vision are grainy—like something seen through wet glass. But slowly it clears, and there appears the figure of a man.
Set in Nigeria in the late 1960s, The Road to the Country is the epic story of a shy, bookish student haunted by long-held guilt who must go to war to free himself. When his younger brother disappears as the country explodes in civil war, Kunle must set out on an impossible rescue mission. Kunle’s search for his brother becomes a journey of atonement that will see him conscripted into the breakaway Biafran army and forced to fight a war he hardly understands, all while navigating the prophecies of a local Seer, he who marks Kunle as an abami eda—one who will die and return to life.
The story of a young man seeking redemption in a country on fire, Chigozie Obioma’s novel is an odyssey of brotherhood, love, and unimaginable courage set during one of the most devastating conflicts in the history of Africa. Intertwining myth and realism into a thrilling, inspired, and emotionally powerful novel, The Road to the Country is the masterpiece of Chigozie Obioma, a writer Salman Rushdie calls “a major voice” in literature.
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"This powerfully evocative and intimate book is unarguably Obioma’s finest. Through subtle, piercing, and gripping language, he renders those seemingly simple but unforgettable moments when our lives intertwine with history, anchoring you to the pages until the end. The Road to the Country will remind you that our existence is the histories of past, present, and the future—and the importance of understanding that. This is among the best books I’ve read in a while and is certainly destined to be a classic."
— Ishmael Beah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Long Way Gone
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A wonderous novel.
— Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Chain-Gang All Stars, finalist for the National Book Award -
A writer who wields both the grand and the intimate with incredible precision and power. Obioma reminds us that it is all real, even the surreal, and in his hands anything is possible. A wonderous novel.
— Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Chain-Gang All Stars, finalist for the National Book Award -
A spectacular blend of realism and mysticism, The Road to the Country is Chigozie Obioma at his finest. He is a novelist in a league of his own.
— Imbolo Mbue, New York Times bestselling author of Behold the Dreamers -
Chigozie Obioma has proven his mastery of craft in this sweeping, brilliant, and stunning novel. The Road to the Country is an eloquent, beautifully rendered study on time and place and the history that changed a nation. His is a gorgeous prose, and the storytelling one expects from a gifted writer. . . . A truly unforgettable read.
— Nicole Dennis-Benn, award-winning author of Here Comes the Sun and Patsy -
Chigozie Obioma brings the Biafran War to life in a visceral yet mystical way. Loss, pain, and grief are etched onto a canvas that seems timeless and endless. I grieve for those lost in that doomed declaration of independence but celebrate those, such as Chigozie, who carry their torches.
— Nadifa Mohamed, author The Fortune Men, finalist for the Booker Prize -
A spectacular blend of realism and mysticism, The Road to the Country is Chigozie Obioma at his finest. He is a novelist in a league of his own.
— Imbolo Mbue, New York Times bestselling author of Behold the Dreamers -
A spectacular blend of realism and mysticism, The Road to the Country is Chigozie Obioma at his finest. He is a novelist in a league of his own.
— Imbolo Mbue, New York Times bestselling author of Behold the Dreamers -
A writer who wields both the grand and the intimate with incredible precision and power. Obioma reminds us it’s all real, even the surreal, and in his hands anything is possible. A wonderous novel.
— Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Chain-Gang All Stars, finalist for the National Book Award -
Incredibly moving and hopeful. Both an adventure story and a portrait of brotherhood, love and companionship. In each beautifully crafted sentence, Obioma shows us how the best of humanity is often created under extreme pressure.
— Nadifa Mohamed, author The Fortune Men, finalist for the Booker Prize -
Incredibly moving and hopeful. Both an adventure story and a portrait of brotherhood, love and companionship. In each beautifully crafted sentence, Obioma shows us how the best of humanity is often created under extreme pressure.
— Nadifa Mohamed, author The Fortune Men, finalist for the Booker Prize -
Obioma has captured the essential elements of the war novel—the near-death experience, the tragic losses, the flickering moments of generosity and grace—but he inhabits them with a rare command, empathy, and intensity of feeling. . . . A top-tier war novel, inventive and cleareyed about the consequences of violence.
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
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About Chigozie Obioma
Chigozie Obioma was born in 1986 in Akure, Nigeria. His short stories have appeared in the Virginia Quarterly Review and New Madrid. He was a fall 2012 Omi Fellow at Ledig House in New York and his first novel, The Fishermen, won the 2016 NAACP Image Award and was a Man Booker Prize finalist. Obioma has lived in Nigeria, Cyprus and Turkey, and currently resides in the United States, where he teaches at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.