Acclaimed novelist Helon Habila, who grew up in northern Nigeria, returned to Chibok and gained intimate access to the families of the kidnapped to offer a devastating account of a tragedy that stunned the world. With compassion and a deep understanding of the historical context, Habila tells the stories of the girls and the anguish of their parents; chronicles the rise of Boko Haram and the Nigerian government's inept response; and captures the indifference of the media and the international community whose attention has long moved on.
Employing a fiction writer's sensibility and a journalist's curiosity, The Chibok Girls provides poignant portraits of everyday Nigerians whose lives have been transformed by extremist forces. Habila illuminates the long history of colonialism-and unmasks cultural and religious dynamics-that gave rise to the conflicts that have ravaged the region to this day.

The Chibok Girls

In the oil-rich and environmentally devastated Nigerian Delta, the wife of a British oil executive has been kidnapped. Two journalists - a young upstart, Rufus, and a once-great, now disillusioned veteran, Zaq - are sent to find her. In a story rich with atmosphere and taut with suspense, Oil on Water explores the conflict between idealism and cynical disillusionment in a journey full of danger and unintended consequences. 

As Rufus and Zaq navigate polluted rivers flanked by exploded and dormant oil wells, in search of "the white woman," they must contend with the brutality of both government soldiers and militants. Assailed by irresolvable versions of the "truth" about the woman's disappearance, dependent on the kindness of strangers of unknowable loyalties, their journalistic objectivity will prove unsustainable, but other values might yet salvage their human dignity.

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Oil on Water

2012

Parresia

Synopsis

Read on the Bambooks mobile app

Books by Helon Habila

The Chibok Girls

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4.3

4 Rating(s) / 0 review(s)

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Oil on Water

2012

Parresia

Synopsis

Read on the Bambooks mobile app

Books by Helon Habila

The Chibok Girls

Related titles

Roomies

Ensnarled

Adanna

My Sister, the Serial Killer

Twice A Bride: The Journey

Two Red Lines

ENIOLA

Mrs Unmarried

Pleasure, A Twin Bliss Resort Novel

The Duct Series

Destination

Golden Sands

The Carnivorous City

Moving Targets

Thirteen Suspects

Reviews

4.3

4 Rating(s) / 0 review(s)

All reviews