{"product_id":"before-the-mango-ripens-9781938603372","title":"Before the Mango Ripens","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFinalist for the 2025 Aspen Words Literary Prize\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eSet against the backdrop of 1970s Nigeria teetering between post-colonial dependency and self-rule, \u003ci\u003eBefore the Mango Ripens\u003c\/i\u003e examines the enduring themes of faith, disillusionment, and the search for belonging. Both epic and intimate, Afabwaje Kurian's debut announces a brilliant new talent for readers of Imbolo Mbue and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn Rabata, everyone has secrets--especially since the arrival of the white American missionaries. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTwenty-year-old Jummai is a beautiful and unassuming house girl whose dreams of escaping her home life are disrupted when an unexpected pregnancy forces her to hide her lover's identity. Tebeya, an ambitious Dublin-educated doctor, has left prestigious opportunities abroad to return to the small town of her birth, and discovers a painful betrayal when she strives to take control of the mission clinic. Zanya is a young translator, enticed by promises of progress, who comes to Rabata to escape a bitter past and finds himself embroiled in a fight against the American reverend for the heart of the church and town. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eUnited by their yearning for change, all three must make difficult decisions that threaten the fragile relationships of the Rabata they know. As tensions mount and hypocrisies are unveiled, the people of Rabata are faced with a question that will transform their town forever: Let the Americans stay, or make them go?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKurian, Afabwaje:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cb\u003eAfabwaje Kurian\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of the novel BEFORE THE MANGO RIPENS, which has been shortlisted for the 2025 Aspen Words Literary Prize. She received her MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Her short fiction has been published in \u003ci\u003eMcSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Callaloo, Crazyhorse, The Bare Life Review, \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e Joyland Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e. She's taught creative writing at the University of Iowa, for the International Writing Program, and for The Writer's Center. Born in Jos, Nigeria, and raised in Prince George's County, Maryland and in Ohio, Afabwaje now divides her time between Washington, DC and the Midwest.","brand":"Dzanc Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51676290318610,"sku":"9781938603372","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_7e19a1cb-d1f8-460d-acc9-e9304825ff66.jpg?v=1761052855","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/before-the-mango-ripens-9781938603372","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}