Number 65- On Fridays We Eat Meat- A S Hopewell

 

Now this is an interesting one. I don't actually know who wrote this.  There is a choice of 7 authors, one more likely than the others. The Eden Book Society is a literary hoax by Dead Ink Press featuring novellas allegedly written for a secret society over the last 100 years and only recently rediscovered. In reality, they're written by a selection of modern authors in the style of...

This is part of the 1993 collection.  there are 8 books and we know who they are, but not which book they wrote. (Grady Hendrix definitely wrote one specific volume but not this one.  Since we know which one he wrote, that's why we have a choice of 7 here)

This being set in Nigeria leads me to think the actual write is Chikodili Emelumadu, since none of the other writers have African sounding names.

Gozie is a tweenage tomboy who likes to hang around with her best friends Mbembe and Chuma, doing the things pre-teens do in Nigerian townships. When the trio find that one of their favourite places to hang out (an empty house on a well off estate) now has a new owner, events start to spiral. 

The new owner welcomes them in, but he's not what he seems to be and supernatural forces soon threaten Gozie and her friends. 

It's difficult to say more without spoilers. This is a quick read and fairly effectively written. I loved the insight into the poorer edges of Nigerian society and the class struggles which seem extreme by western standards. The supernatural elements are blended nicely into the narrative and it picks up pace for a bloody finale.

If the rest of the Eden Book Society works are to this standard, I will be a very happy man indeed,