Butter Honey Pig Bread follows Kambirinachi and her twin daughters Kehinde and Taiye, in alternating points of view, throughout the time of their relationships, as well as Kambirinachi's childhood. Their familial relationship is complicated, especially after an incident Kehinde at first only refers to as "the bad thing" (see trigger warnings). It's messy, but they all love each other, and the story, while it meanders into the particulars of each MC's life, follows the thread of their relationship as it changes.

This book has one of my favorite queer friendships I’ve ever read a mostly Black cast, and takes place kind of all over the world (except the US) in Nigeria and England and France and Canada and probably more. And the intergenerational aspects and magical realism (slash like, Igbo beliefs I think? Unsure how realistic vs heightened it is) are so good and interesting. And I saw someone on Goodreads say that the tender intimacy of cooking together or cooking for those we love and other aspects of like, presence, is something we don’t get to have in COVID times, and that is central throughout this book.

There are so many trigger warnings but it’s also just so full of realness and heartbreaking beauty and the RELATIONSHIPS are all so complex but truthful. And full of love in ways that sometimes hurt and sometimes heal and sometimes are full of joy. The book ends on a bittersweet and hopeful note. I truly recommend this for anyone who can handle the trigger warnings because it's absolutely beautiful, and true to title, a mix of sweet, meaty, hearty, filling, and decadent.

Specifically about the audiobook - I really liked it! Sometimes audiobooks feel like they're an almost separate thing from the book, which could be a good thing or a bad thing, but this narrator subtly embodied the characters in a way where I didn't really feel like I was listening to a performance, just reading a book. I did get pretty confused in the beginning and ended up taking out an ebook copy from my library to follow along with the beginning again to make sure I understood who the different characters were and how they related to each other. That's probably a mix of my own memory/attention span, and the early confusion of alternating point of view chapters with names I am not used to (and with the names of the POV characters only introduced at the beginning of each chapter, and not textually listed, at least on NetGalley, on the section of the audio I was listening to). As I am not familiar with a lot of the words and names, having the audiobook was probably best as I got to hear pronunciation.

I was provided free access to an audiobook copy by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger warnings:

Graphic: Child abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Miscarriage , Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Ableism, Abortion, and Bullying

Hallucinations could potentially be a warning but it’s more like magical realism based on Igbo beliefs as far as I can tell.

I saved the best for last! Just finished my fifth of the Canada Reads 2021 books and it exceeded any expectations! The prose was so lyrical and moving and I REALLY enjoyed the emphasis on food descriptions throughout the book. Making delicious food was a big theme throughout the story and seemed to factor into how the twin sisters both found ways to heal after their shared childhood trauma. I will be adding Francesca Ekwuyasi to my growing list of Nigerian women writers I adore: Jane Igharo and Abi Daré being top among them.
TW: rape, child molestation, mental illness, depression, grief, eating disorders, miscarriage and child loss.
Thanks to NetGalley for an advance e-audio review copy!