An Orchestra of Minorities

By: Chigozie Obioma

Narrated by: Chukwudi Iwuji

Length: 18 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

A heartbreaking story about a Nigerian poultry farmer who sacrifices everything to win the woman he loves, by Man Booker finalist and author of The Fishermen, Chigozie Obioma

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.

Spanning continents, traversing the earth and cosmic spaces, and told by a narrator who has lived for hundreds of years, the novel is a contemporary twist of Homer's Odyssey. Written in the mythic style of the Igbo literary tradition, Chigozie Obioma weaves a heart-wrenching epic about destiny and determination.

©2019 Chigozie Obioma (P)2019 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"This is a book that wrenches the heart with its story of love, migration and inner turmoil, told with remarkable language from start to finish. Narrated by a cast of characters from Igbo spiritual tradition, the story of Chinonso, the chicken farmer begins and ends with tragedy. But his quest for a life with Ndali, the woman he loves, drives him to seek status and wealth as an African migrant in Europe, to transcend Nigeria's formidable class boundaries. The spirits look down on these human dramas of small town Nigeria and reveal the rich complexity of another realm along the way. Obioma's is a tale of Odyssian proportions that makes the heart soar, and a crucial journey into a heartache that is both mythical and real. A stunning book."—Booker Prize 2019 Jury citation

"Obioma writes with an exigent precision that makes AN ORCHESTRA OF MINORITIES feel at once timely and speculative. The novel aches with Chinonso. His triumphs are rare and hard-won. Obioma compels the reader to root for him, to see the poor chicken farmer's story as an epic."—The Atlantic

"A multicultural fable that her­alds a new master of magical realism. . . . It's a special writer who can take the familiar tropes found within AN ORCHESTRA OF MINORITIESand infuse them with new life, transforming them into something exciting and unexpected. Happily, Obioma is exactly such an author."—Bookpage, starred review

"Chigozie Obioma pens a deeply empathetic, complex, and gut-wrenchingly human narrative that captures the heart and soul. An Orchestra of Minorities stays with you. With remarkable style and compelling language, he explores what it means to experience blinding love and devastating loss. A truly gifted writer, Obioma has proven yet again, that he's a literary treasure."—Nicole Dennis-Benn, award-winning author of Here Comes the Sun

just exquisite!

The best book I have listened to in years, like was poetry to my ears. This author's writing is so captivating and he has such a skill for beautifully unraveling a multilayered and complex story with such intricate details..... I enjoyed all of it and so happy I found this book!

Inventive Modern Tragedy

From the first page I was delighted by the imaginative story-telling and characters. It is hard to tell if the tragedy comes from within the protagonist or from his surroundings. The beauty of this story is how they keep you guessing who this person is that we have been reading about the whole time.

Deep, fascinating, brilliant, frustrating.

This is a multi-layered story in which the protagonist's actions in life are narrated by his chi, or spirit, so the reader is seeing and experiencing Chinonso's life from two simultaneous vantage points: From the meta-level of the spirit, and from the interior world of Chinonso, as described by the spirit. One reviewer commented on how this narrative device keeps us at a remove from the inner workings of Chinonso's mind, and I agree with that, but since Chinonso is basically possessed by and obsessed with his lover, Ndali, the inner workings of his mind seem to run in an endless loop anyway, with only occasional glimpses of reality, so I think the narrative device works well. However, Chinonso's obsession frustrates his chi, and frustrated this reader as well. Have you ever read or watched Othello or Romeo and Juliet, for example, and had the strong desire to yell "Don't do it! Can't you see how stupid you're being?" There are moments like that in abundance in this book. There are long sections, particularly when Chinonso travels to Cyprus to attend college, in which the narrative moves along quickly and sparks with interest. There are other sections, particularly the final two hours of the audiobook, in which the narrative drags into a kind of grinding and painful repetitiveness, and I wanted the chi's observations to stick with the story, and quit with the spirit world stuff. But overall, Obioma's brilliance and energy and vision carry the day. However, in truth, I preferred his earlier novel, "The Fisherman," which was a tour de force. In both novels, the narrator is pitch-perfect and makes the listening experience pure joy.

good but not great

I previously read the fisherman by chigoze obioma and loved it, I expected this book to be as appealing or even more, but i was disappointed. I did love the book, especially the way the author incorporated the so called chi, but i found the story to be exhausting in many ways. i couldn't connect to the main character, he just seemed to be spineless, predictable and boring. the main female character wasn't explored enough and the focus on the least interesting parts while skipping others, didn't make much sense to me.

Good but sad story

Great storytelling from the perspective of the Chi. I really appreciated that. Good story about how to the sequence of how one life event can be the catalyst of what make or break us.

Fantastic

Stunning and mesmerizing from the opening sentence to the concluding word. I often found myself lost in the story and increasingly worried about how it would end.Highly recommended.

Beautiful

I loved listening to this book. It was captivating and very written. I’m tempted to buy hard copy and read it again. I highly recommend.

Very good Plot

Was very interesting couldn’t stop listening. I felt connected to the characters, the twist of event was refreshing

Brilliant

This humanity of this book stayed with me. Don’t hesitate to read this GEM! Kudos to Obioma - His second novel The Fisherman was just as moving - keep them coming please - I’ll keep checking :)

Exceptional & gripping.

Anti-thesis of the typical, over used Western story line and direction of character development.