Product Description

A compelling story about the human spirit and resilience against the odds. Imagine This is the journal of Lola Ogunwole which she starts at the age of nine; it charts her survival from childhood to adulthood. Born in London to Nigerian parents, Lola and her brother Adebola grow up in a temporary foster home after their mother abandons them. They are briefly reunited with their father when, in danger of losing them for good, he packs up and moves them back to Nigeria to live. For Lola, the trauma of leaving London and settling in Lagos is soon overshadowed by separation from her father and the only constant in her life, her brother Adebola. They are both sent to live with different relatives and Lola ends up with her aunt, in a small village called Idogun where her struggle for survival begins.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #149977 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-31
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 331 pages

Review
'What animate the book... are Lola's feisty voice and her authentic evocation of her surroundings... The idiosyncratic phrasing contributes to the appeal of Adeniran's memorable heroine.' --The Guardian

Customer Reviews

Beautiful and Wonderful do not even begin to describe this book...
Imagine this: being taken away from all that you cherish, all that you love and being thrust into a landscape that is frightening, bizarre and so incredibly different from all that you know.

This is exactly what happens to nine year old Lola Ogunwole. Born in London to Nigerian parents, her world is torn apart when her mother abandons Lola and her brother Adebola. They find themselves in a foster home until their father comes to claim them.

Lola thinks that her troubles are over; but they have just begun. Rather than lose both his children, he takes them from London to Nigeria to live with family members. Lola and Adebola are separated from each other for the first time in their lives. Adebola goes to live with an uncle in the small town of Lagos and Lola finds herself living with an aunt in Idogun.

Idogun is unlike anywhere that Lola has lived before. Poverty is rampant in the village and there is no electricity, no indoor toilets, and no conveniences. Only a hard life and a world so removed from civilization that Lola feels like an outcast. Her one constant, her brother Adebola, removed from her, Lola feels more alone than ever.

Her family does not make it easy for her either. For no reason that Lola can think of, her aunt hates her. She is made to walk miles and miles every morning for water. She has to learn to adapt herself to a life of hardship; a life of difficulty and a father that seems to be cutting himself off from her.

But like all things, time passes and hardships increase. Lola starts to change and mature. No longer is she the spoiled little girl from London. Lola starts becoming a woman. But when she is tested, when something so earth shattering happens that Lola does not speak for days, something inside her changes.

She knows that she must fight to get where she wants, otherwise her heart and her spirit will perish....

My brief summary of the plot does not do the scope of this novel justice. Told in diary format, we are really reading Lola's journal; her inner thoughts, her inner demons are poured out onto the page for all of us to read. Because of her words, I find myself changed forever.

I can't express how good, how utterly amazing, this novel is. The fact that this is Adeniran's first novel is astounding. There is so much depth here, so much feeling and emotion that it is hard to believe I'm not reading the work of a seasoned writer. Imagine This is pure, unadulterated storytelling and the power of it is incredible.

Because it's told in a diary format, we see into Lola's head and her thoughts a lot more clearly than if the novel was told in first person or third person. Indeed, we get to read her private wishes, dreams and aspirations for the future. After a while I forgot I was reading a novel and could picture Lola scratching away in her diary. I felt I could reach out and touch her.

Few authors are able to render a character so completely. Lola becomes not just a character on a page or words on paper. She lives and breathes alongside you as you read her story. I can honestly say I was blown away. Few books have affected me as strongly as Imagine This and I know that my spirit carries a piece of Lola with me where ever I go now.

I am haunted by her; by the sound of her voice in my head, her words on the page it's hard to believe that Lola does not really exist. It's hard to believe that I can't reach out and touch her. This is the power of Adeniran's amazing first novel.

Imagine This is not just a story, not just a novel. It's about having the courage to face obstacles head on. It's about finding the strength to survive and succeed that you didn't know you had inside of you. But most of all, Imagine This is about the triumph of the heart.

If you read one good book this summer, make sure that it is Imagine This. Your heart will thank you for it.

Excellent debut by a gifted writer
When I first picked up this book, i was ambivalent about the writing style. A book written completely in journal form without any narrative? I didn't think a new writer could successfully pull it off. Sade not only did it, but she did it brilliantly. I found it to be quite slow moving initially, but that's probably because I have a strong preference for plot over character driven books. However, once I got to about the 100th page, I couldn't put it down until I was done. Sade adeptly takes us into the mind of Lola Ogunwole, and when you are done reading, you feel like you know her perfectly well. I hope a major publisher snaps up this writer, who has me already looking forward to the sequel of this awesome tale.

Fantastic read.
I bought a copy of Imagine This because a friend recommended it and I was utterly blown away. I can't seem to express how good and totally brilliant this book is. There is so much depth and emotion that I couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting. It's written in diary format and because of this we can clearly see Lola's thoughts and feelings. She takes us on a rollercoaster journey, going from funny to incredibly sad to exciting. What a brilliant read.