We're excited to welcome Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ to the bookshop for an event to celebrate her new book, A Spell of Good Things. Shortlisted for the 2017 Women's Prize for Fiction, her debut novel, Stay With Me, has resonated with many, including some of our booksellers, and her next book, following two families set in modern Nigeria, is set to be just as compelling. Ayọ̀bámi will be in conversation with literary agent Caro Clarke.

This event will take place in the bookshop with an in-person audience, as well as a livestream for attendees watching from home. There will be a signing after the event.

In-person vouchers can be redeemed on the night of the event against a single copy of A Spell of Good Things – we will have a list of attendees with vouchers to be redeemed. Livestream vouchers are valid until the day after the event and can be redeemed on the website against a single copy of A Spell of Good Things. Please note that only one voucher can be redeemed per book.

Eniola is tall for his age, a boy who looks like a man. His father has lost his job, so Eniola spends his days running errands for the local tailor, collecting newspapers and begging, dreaming of a big future. Wuraola is a golden girl, the perfect child of a wealthy family.

Now an exhausted young doctor in her first year of practice, she is beloved by Kunle, the volatile son of family friends. When a local politician takes an interest in Eniola and sudden violence shatters a family party, Wuraola and Eniola’s lives become intertwined.

In this breathtaking novel, Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ shines her light on Nigeria, on the gaping divide between the haves and the have-nots, and the shared humanity that lives in between.

Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ was born in Lagos, Nigeria. Her debut novel, Stay With Me, won the 9mobile Prize for Literature, was shortlisted for the Baileys Prize for Women’s Fiction, the Wellcome Book Prize and the Kwani? Manuscript Prize. It has been translated into twenty languages and the French translation was awarded the Prix Les Afriques. Longlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize and the International Dublin Literary Award, Stay With Me was a New York Times, Guardian, Chicago Tribune and NPR Best Book of the Year.

Caro Clarke is a literary agent at Portobello Literary and the Chair of the Association of Scottish Literary Agents. They have over twelve years' experience in publishing – at Transworld (PRH) and at Canongate Books as a Senior Rights Manager. They were named Rights Professional of the Year at the British Book Awards in 2021. In 2019, they co-founded the Nan Shepherd Prize for underrepresented nature writers.

Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ – A Spell of Good Things