Changes

|title=Tiny Sunbirds Far Away

|reviewer=Robin Leggett

|genre=General Fiction

|borrow=Yes

|isbn=9781849163750

|pages=352

|publisher=Quercus

|date=March 2011

|summary=Terrific characters in this coming of age story set in the Niger delta. Be prepared for stories of birthing and discussions about female circumcision though.

}}

Watson's great strength is the colourful characterizations. Blessing's grandfather, Alhaji, is an out of work, proud Muslim man who is convinced of his ability to transform the environmental damage caused by the Western Oil Company, if only they would give him a job and in the strange curative powers of Marmite. Her grandmother is a wise lady who serves the local community as a 'birth attendant'. Not long after Blessing's arrival, a new family member enters the scene in the large form of Celestine, the young girl Alhahi takes as a second wife, whose faith in the powers of lycra almost match her new husband's faith in Marmite. She is a terrific character and adds greatly to the book. Meanwhile Blessing's mother goes to work at the oil company compound leaving Blessing to assist her grandmother in delivering local babies and Ezikiel to abandon his desires to be a doctor and to go off the rails.

There's a lot of very good African-base fiction around at the moment - it's become a bit like the new India in fiction terms. For more great characters and some of the same issues, particularly those arising from multiple wives, then [[ The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Shoneyin]] is an absolute joy.

[[Category:Women's Fiction]]