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** I received an arc for an honest review **
Description:
In December 2019, Ghana commemorated the “Year of Return,” marking 400 years since the first enslaved Africans were taken to Virginia. Adwapa, a Ghanaian journalist residing in the U.S., returns to her homeland with friends to reconnect with her roots during this historic event. However, the Atlantic Ocean, bearing witness to past atrocities, begins to stir with ancient energies. Spirits of those who perished during the Middle Passage emerge, not in peace but in turmoil, transforming the celebrations into a haunting spectacle of reawakened histories and unresolved grievances. As the boundary between the living and the dead blurs, Adwapa finds herself amidst supernatural events and historical reckonings, with the ghosts’ sorrows manifesting in chilling acts that threaten the present.
Summary:
One of my most interesting reads was The Year of Return, a dark fiction, history and horror novella by Ghanan author Ivana Akotowaa Ofori.
Review:
The Year of Return is a novella with depth, social commentary, history and gothic horror all contained within a short read that is unsettling, chilling and lingers long after the last page has been read.
The Year of Return focuses the scars of slavery through the sudden and growing numbers of the “Coasters,” appearing from the oceans. These spirits of the once-enslaved and never hidden under the waves and the passage of time, provides a powerful metaphor for our personal, cross-continental and unresolved histories and the need of confront and acknowledge the atrocities and injustices of the past.
The protagonist, Adwapa is a well-developed character that connects the past to the present, the living to the dead. Adwapa’s search for her own identity and past is personal and reflective of the broader issues inherent to diaspora and the sense of disconnect to heritage.
Ofori’s narrative style is short, punctuated the unsettling gothic atmosphere with claustrophobia and feels a deliberate narrative tool for the horrors endured during confinement in the transatlantic slave trade. Ofori explores the subgenre of African dispora examining themes of ancestral connections, generational disconnection, historical truth-telling, and the impact of past atrocities on the present. The Year of Return calls for reflection on the enduring impact of generational traumas and the role history plays in contemporary society.
Conclusion:
A recommended read! This unsettling gothic novella delves into transatlantic slave trade, unresolved history in a strong ghost story and social commentary on interconnected spheres of the past and present. A poignant dark fiction addition to the expanding African diaspora genre and a new favourite in gothic horror.
** This review reflects my personal opinion and does not represent any official judging decisions **
Leanbh Pearson 