YINKA, WHERE IS YOUR HUZBAND? is a bold journey from loneliness to self-love

For those of us still singing along enthusiastically to Beyonce’s Single Ladies, this wonderfully titled novel from Lizzie Damilola Blackburn – Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband? – will resonate from the first page to last. The story of Yinka takes place against a claustrophobic background of intrusive relatives insistent she marry soon and a group of friends whose settled, seemingly perfect lives make her own feel increasingly lonely and unfulfilled.

Yet, in pouring all of her time and energy into finding someone, Yinka comes perilously close to losing herself. Just how much of her personality she is willing to jettison in order to secure a man may leave some readers feeling uncomfortable and increasingly exasperated, but that is exactly the point debut author Lizzie Damilola Blackburn wants to make. She tells the story of a woman journeying from crippling insecurity to joyous self-love boldly and – in one standout scene which sees Yinka preaching to the literal choir about the benefits of singledom – with genuine emotional heft.

Set amongst the Nigerian community in Peckham, the novel gives voice to a criminally underrepresented faction of modern Britain. It celebrates its culture whilst not being afraid to tackle the weighty issue of assimilation head-on. In both setting and plot, Yinka is a tale that few have heard before, but many will have longed to.