Only Big Bumbum Matters Tomorrow

A Novel

By: Damilare Kuku

Narrated by: Weruche Opia

A “wise, funny, irresistible” (Shelf Awareness) debut novel about family secrets, judgmental aunties, and Brazilian butt lifts, from the author of the internationally bestselling story collection Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad.

In Nigerian families, none of your business is private. Not even if it's about your bumbum.

Freshly out of Obafemi Awolowo University, 20-year-old Temi has a clear plan for her future: she is going to surgically enlarge her backside like all the other Nigerian women, move from Ile-Ife to Lagos, and meet a man who will love her senseless.

But when she finally finds the courage to tell her mother, older sister, and aunties, her announcement causes an uproar. As each of the other women try to cure Temi of what seems like temporary insanity, they begin to spill long-buried secrets, including the truth of Temi’s older sister’s mysterious disappearance five years earlier.

In the end, it seems like Temi might be the sanest of them all…

In Only Big Bumbum Matters Tomorrow, Damilare Kuku brings her signature humor, boldness, and compassion to each member of this loveable but exasperating family, whose lives reveal the ways in which a woman’s physical appearance can dictate her life and relationships and show just how sharp the double-edged sword of beauty can be.

Who would've thought a "Bum Bum" story could be so deep?

This book was deeply thought-provoking, tackling generational issues and childhood trauma with plenty of unexpected twists. While it had its humorous moments, the story’s seriousness quickly becomes apparent as it skillfully unravels the complexities of different mindsets and perspectives.

Heartbreakingly beautiful, and so very familiar

This was my first novel by Damilare Kuku, but it definitely won't be my last.

I'm an Anglo-Franc Canadian, but I live in a city where over 130 languages are spoken, so accents from around the world don't stop me -- they just can take a little bit of listening to get used to. I listened at 90% speed, which was perfect for me, about the same speed I listen to French books.

I'm going to mangle names, unfortunately, and I apologize in advance. The wonderful thing is that the chapters and partitions not only say whose perspective it is from, but the vocal performance is STELLAR. Even to my unfamiliar ear regional accents between the hometown this is placed in, Lagos, the UK and American influences to Nigerian can be sometimes subtly but very clearly between characters, making them very easy to differentiate between.

This is helped, of course, by the individual voices the author gives each character.

The setting is a new one for me, but one I was glad to be centered in the whirlwind of life of a University town, with a big scary city not too far off. It's such a beautifully told story, in parts and in distinct periods of time that talks about issues that were prominent when I was a kid 30 years ago, and are even more so today. Body image, bullying, sexual harassment and assault, catcalling 14-year-olds -- all this before hitting university. All of this swallowed by young women because they think it's somehow their fault (yes, teens are vehicles solely made up of Id, but still) because their body is wrong, or they're too ____ (loud, funny, smart, etc -- things they're told a man wouldn't want in a wife).

It talks about the pain, confusion, betrayal of children by adults who prey on them. It speaks of the rage and feeling of utter helplessness by parents or guardians when it's discovered, because our one job is to shield the vulnerable from monsters who get a slap on the wrist and head off to the next school to begin the cycle of abuse again.

But this book also talks about the bonds of friends and family, sometimes that stretch to breaking, and sometimes where wounds can be mended. At the very heart of the book are the Professor and his daughters, so very different yet both utterly fierce and resilient enough to weather a lot of life's early hurts. The Professor's sweet humour, utter kindness, and overwhelming love is what binds everyone together.

That, and food. So many wonderful descriptions of food. Recipes and restaurants to try!

Books that remind me that, at the heart of all things, we are human -- fragile and failing at times, but we love our children, we dance when we're happy, and even when we've managed to screw something up royally we have the grace to forgive. It doesn't matter where, what language we speak, what visible and cultural and historical differences we have.

Getting to experience all of this was an absolute joy overall. I bought it for the BumBum. It's worth a credit, no question. If you struggle with non-North-American accents, I recommend listening to the sample and fiddling with the speed, as something should click. It doesn't honestly slow the book down at all, unless you're used to listening at 150% or above.

Lovely work

I enjoyed it. Very easy read despite addressing the BBL pandemic in Lagos amongst other issues.

EXCELLENCE

This was very well written, very humorous, insightful, wise, and perfectly narrated. I will search for more of this content.

awesome

loved a everybminute of it. Great subject matter. amazing story telling. Fantastic narration. Cannot wait to listen to more from the author