Listeners may initially recognize British-Nigerian performer Kehinde Fadipe for her on-screen performances, most notably her star turn as Melissa on BBC sci-fi dramedy Misfits. But after queuing up her authorial debut, The Sun Sets in Singapore, you'll soon realize her creative gifts extend far beyond the small screen. Set against the stunning sunshine and lush urban tropics of the Asian isle, the story unfolds as three Nigerian women expats reckon with the traumas of their past and conquer the complexities of newfound interpersonal drama.
We spoke with Fadipe about her compelling, character-driven new release, how writing compares to her first craft, her favorite new listen, and more.
Tricia Ford: This is your debut novel. How is writing similar to and different from your other profession of acting?
Kehinde Fadipe: It’s a very different experience. Writing a novel is very much a solo activity; it’s very interior and you have to enjoy spending time with yourself, fleshing out ideas and creating stories on the page. In contrast, acting is by nature, collaborative and instinctive. That said, working with my editors on The Sun Sets in Singapore was a collaborative endeavor that I found very satisfying, especially coming at the end of many years of redrafting the book on my own.
Dami Olukoya (The Nigerwife, Infinity Gate) is narrating The Sun Sets in Singapore! Did you have any involvement in or thoughts on her casting, and as a performer yourself, did that shape your writing at all or give any insight into the audio experience?
I was impressed by the books she’d worked on and I was pleased to have a voice actor with that level of experience work on the book. There is a lot of dialogue in this novel, and I relished capturing the characters’ sparring with one another as much as I did exploring their internal voices.
How did you choose the setting for the novel? What was it about Singapore that helped bring your characters to life?
I wanted to write something light that captured the women I was meeting in Singapore. I was inspired by the contradictions of life in the city, how it draws such disparate groups of people and how some people cocoon themselves from real life when here.
Early excitement about The Sun Sets in Singapore celebrates it as an uplifting, fun, story focused on female friendship. Is this what you were hoping to come through the most?
Yes, ultimately, I wanted to write something that women, most especially Black women, could curl up with and disappear into. I wanted it to be relatable but a little escapist.
What’s a favorite recent listen you would recommend and why?
I enjoyed listening to Dava Shastri’s Last Day by Kirthana Ramisetti. It was a lot of fun and very easy to visualize. I’m looking forward to listening to her latest book, Advika and the Hollywood Wives.
