Book review: Nigerian Laureate Wole Soyinka returns to the novel after half a century

When the pandemic imposed isolation Soyinka decided to write his first novel in nearly 50 years

Wole Soyinka at the 2021 PEN America Literary Gala in New York City. Picture: Arturo Holmes/Getty Images

Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka, known as Wole Soyinka, led an extraordinary life and he brought this lifetime of experience to his crafting of Chronicles From the Land of the Happiest People on Earth. 

Born into a British colonial Nigeria in Abeokuta (about 48 miles north of Lagos) in 1934, he had a solid local education where his talent as a writer was recognised early. At the age of 18 he graduated college and at age 20 he moved to the UK to study at the University of Leeds. While attending university he became a literary figure in his own right and helped progress the West African voice in English literature through the production of several important plays.