Sankofa

A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK and Amazon Best Book of the Year, Sankofa is a deeply moving exploration of identity, belonging, and the complicated threads that connect us to our past. Chibundu Onuzo has crafted a story that feels both intimate and expansive—a journey that will resonate with anyone who has ever wondered where they truly come from.

Anna is in her forties, at a crossroads. Her marriage has ended, her daughter has grown, and her mother—the only parent she ever knew—has passed away. While sorting through her mother’s belongings, Anna uncovers her late father’s student diaries, revealing his radical political activism in 1970s London and his eventual rise to power as president of a West African nation. He’s still alive. And Anna decides to find him.

What follows is a journey as funny as it is profound. Like the Sankofa bird that looks backward while moving forward, Anna must reconcile her British upbringing with her African heritage, navigating questions of race, colonization, and what it means to truly belong. The New York Times Book Review praised the novel as “sneakily breezy, highly entertaining,” while Reese Witherspoon called it “a beautiful book about a woman brave enough to discover her true identity.”

Perfect for readers who loved Homegoing or Americanah, Sankofa is a shelf-talker favorite here at the shop—a story about finding yourself in the most unexpected places, even when home turns out to be more complex than you imagined.

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