Photo Content from Jane Abieyuwa Igharo
Her third novel, Worth Having, will be released by Berkley (Penguin Random House) in September 2022.
Greatest thing you learned in school.
To be confident in my art. My grade 12 creative writing teacher taught me that.
Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.
Getting heart-warming messages from readers who enjoyed my books. It’s really amazing how people connect to my stories.
Was there a defining moment during your youth when you realized you wanted to be a writer?
When I wrote my first poem in Grade 8. It wasn’t the best poem, but it definitely sparked my interest and set me on a path of writing.
What’s the best advice you can give writers to help them develop their own unique voice and style?
Don’t try to be like anyone else. You have a unique perspective no else can capture, so use that to your advantage.
What are some of your current and future projects that you can share with us?
I currently have a young adult novel in the works, SISI AMERICANAH. The estimated release is 2024.
In your newest book; WHERE WE END & BEGIN, can you tell my Book Nerd community a little about it.
It’s about Dunni and Obinna, who meet and fall in love as teenagers. But they’re separated when Dunni goes to America for college. Twelve years later, Dunni goes back to Nigeria for a friend’s wedding and sees Obinna again. As they reconnect, secrets from the past comes to the surface.
What do you hope for readers to be thinking when they read your novel?
I would like them to consider the various juxtapositions in the book—poor and rich, superstition and factuality—and the ways they intertwine.
What part of Dunni did you enjoy writing the most?
I enjoyed writing teenage Dunni. She’s so bold and assertive. She’s definitely the strongest female character I’ve written so far. It was a lot of fun writing her.
What was your unforgettable moment while writing WHERE WE END & BEGIN?
I enjoyed writing the scene when Dunni and Obinna make love one last time before Dunni leaves for America. It was an emotional scene, and I cried while writing it. Frankly, I cried while writing a lot of this book.
If you could introduce one of your characters to any character from another book, who would it be and why?
I would introduce Dunni from WHERE WE END & BEGIN to Azere from TIES THAT TETHER. They could talk about their complicated relationships with their moms.
What is something you think everyone should do at least once in their lives?
Go to the movies on their own. I find it very relaxing.
Best date you've ever had?
My first date with my boyfriend. He came with a present—a box filled with my favorite things. I felt very special.
What is your happiest childhood memory?
Weekend outings with my mom and my sister in London.
How far away from your birthplace do you live now?
A continent away.
What were you doing at midnight last night?
Trying to get through Netflix’s Persuasion. I didn’t succeed.
TEN REASONS TO READ WHERE WE END & BEGIN
- It’s a second chance romance.
- It alternates between the past and present, so you basically get two stories!
- It’s a tearjerker.
- But there’s still a satisfying happy ending.
- It takes place in Nigeria!
- It has a huge and very unexpected reveal.
- It’s gotten rave reviews.
- It’s got so many secrets.
- It has star-crossed lovers.
- It’s filled with emotion and passion and some heated moments.
One of my favorite scenes is when young Dunni and Obinna make love one last time before Dunni leaves for America. It’s such a heartbreaking scene. Here’s my favorite quote from the scene.
How could he be so close to her—be beside her and inside her—and still want to be closer? It wasn’t enough. He wanted to dive into Dunni, swim in her depths, bury himself and coat himself with layers of her. And at that moment, he realized he didn’t only love her. There was something else he couldn’t express. Maybe there was no singular word for it. But that emotion, whatever it was, was vast. It demanded too much of him—his willpower, his sensibility, his pride. And although he had to give up pieces of himself to contain its immensity, he considered it a small price because Dunni was worth everything. And he was not worth much.
Star-crossed lovers get a second chance at romance when they're reunited at a wedding in Nigeria, in a heartfelt novel from the acclaimed author of The Sweetest Remedy.
Dunni hasn't seen her high school boyfriend, Obinna, since she left Nigeria to attend college in America. Before their devastating separation, they vowed to find their way back to each other one day.
Twelve years later, and their vow is a thing of the past. Dunni works as a geneticist in Seattle and is engaged to a man she doesn't love but one her parents approve of. Her future is laid out for her, and everything is going according to plan until she returns to Nigeria for a friend's wedding and runs into Obinna. The shy, awkward boy she loved as a teenager is now a sophisticated, confident man. Things have changed, but there's still an undeniable connection between them.
As they rediscover each other, their days filled with desire and passion, Dunni is reminded of the beautiful future she once planned with Obinna. But when devastating secrets are revealed and the reckless actions of their past bring new challenges, she's left questioning everything, including if the love that consumed her as a teenager is still worth holding on to.
You can purchase Where We End & Begin at the following Retailers:
1 Winner will receive a $10 Amazon Gift Card.
jbnpastinterviews
I think I would like to experience the 90s. I was born in the 90s but was only able to experience it as a baby/child and so I don't remember any of it!
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