Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun
Bernardine Evaristo on Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun
A fiction about a septuagenarian black woman is almost completely unchartered territory in British literature, marking it out as innovative subject matter. This novel also eschews plot and employs multiple narrators and subtle shifts in points of view to build a portrait of a Nigerian yoga enthusiast who guards and enjoys her independence, even when circumstances conspire otherwise. It is a unique meditation on loneliness, and the desire to live fully into old age.
Sarah Ladipo Manyika, Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun
Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun is a mesmerising meditation on ageing, friendship and loss. It is a humorous, subtle and engaging novel, featuring a fantastically feisty and memorable protagonist, Dr. Morayo Da Silva. On the cusp of seventy-five, Morayo defiantly dances on the edge of old age until she has a fall and her independence crumbles. This is a novel about everyday chance encounters, about lovers and literature, diplomats and shopkeepers, carers and companions. It is both an ode to San Francisco and a glimpse into the ever-changing Nigeria of Dr. Morayo's youth.
About the author
Sarah Ladipo Manyika was raised in Nigeria and has lived in Kenya, France, and England. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and currently teaches literature at San Francisco State University. Sarah’s first novel, In Dependence, was published by Legend Press (London) and Cassava Republic Press (Abuja). Sarah sits on the boards of Hedgebrook and San Francisco's Museum of the African Diaspora and was the Chair of Judges for the Etisalat Prize for Literature in 2015. Sarah is host of OZY's video series, Write.