SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2015 MAN BOOKER PRIZE
In this dazzling debut novel, four young brothers in a small Nigerian town encounter a madman, whose prophecy of violence threatens the core of their family
Told from the point of view of nine-year-old Benjamin, the youngest of four brothers, The Fishermen
'A startling debut... auspicious... leaps off the pages' Mariella Frostrup, Open Book
'A striking, controlled and masterfully taut debut... The tale has a timeless quality that renders it almost allegorical and it is the more powerful for it' FT
'It's like being in a Zola or Theodore Dreiser novel... The Fishermen is an elegy to lost promise… and yet it remains hopeful about the redemptive possibilities of a new generation' Guardian
'Awesome in the true sense of the word... a truly magnificent debut' Eleanor Catton, author of The Luminaries
'Suffused with an air of legend and the supernatural... The Fishermen establishes Obioma as a writer to be taken seriously... ingenious, subtle, ambitious and intriguing' TLS
'Terrific' Irish Examiner
'Full of deceptive simplicity, lyrical language and playful Igbo mythology and humour... an impressive and beautifully imagined work' Economist'A novel with an intimate canvas but also an undercurrent of something larger, more primal' We Love This Book
'A debut that is packed with power and tragedy' Shortlist
'Chigozie Obioma truly is the heir to Chinua Achebe' The New York Times
'Mr Obioma's long-limbed and elegant writing is shot through with strikingly elevated phrasings… its lessons may be slippery, but its power is unmistakable' Wall Street Journal
'The most frustrating thing about The Fishermen is that the author has no other books for the reader to devour once the final page is reached' Chicago Tribune
'Searing, incandescent' Harvard Crimson
'Succeeds as a convincing modern narrative and as a majestic reimagining of timeless folklore' Publisher's Weekly, Starred review
'A powerful, haunting tale of grief, healing, and sibling loyalty' Kirkus
'Darkly mythic... a kind of African Cormac McCarthy' USA Today
'[A] confident début novel... frank and lyrical' New Yorker
