3.25 stars

This one was just okay for me. The concept had so much potential, and I was genuinely intrigued by the multi-generational storyline. But overall, I felt like the execution didn’t quite land.

The structure also made it a bit hard to follow. There were so many shifts in location and time that I struggled to stay grounded in the narrative. A more consistent timeline might’ve made the story easier to connect with emotionally.That said, I still think the story idea was genuinely interesting—it just didn’t come together in the way I hoped.

Tochi Eze’s debut, This Kind of Trouble, throws readers into the heart of 1960s Lagos, a city pulsing with the excitement and uncertainty of Nigeria’s independence. At the center are Margaret—a fiercely independent Nigerian woman—and Benjamin, a British-born outsider with Nigerian roots, both haunted by loss and longing. Their lives tangle in a forbidden romance, and what starts as a personal story soon stretches across decades and generations. Eze traces the echoes of colonialism, the power of family secrets, and the pain that persists through ancestry.

Margaret and Benjamin don’t just contend with each other; they wrestle with the weight of tradition, the scars of colonial history, and the pull of their own desires. The novel is steeped in African spirituality and folklore, blending myth with the sharp realities of race, culture, and the messiness of love. Eze’s writing is both lyrical and direct, with a mythic quality that never loses sight of the human core of her characters.

What makes This Kind of Trouble stand out is its ambitious reach. Eze jumps nimbly through time, unravelling the tangled legacies of Margaret and Benjamin’s ancestors. The result is a story that feels both intimate and sweeping—an exploration of how unresolved pain and longing shape not just individuals, but entire generations.

Eze has a knack for revealing just enough—her characters are vivid, flawed, and achingly real, their struggles rendered with insight and grace. The setting, too, is alive: 1960s Lagos bursts off the page, full of colour, tension, and hope. Some readers may find the novel’s sprawling scope and shifting perspectives a challenge, especially if they prefer a tighter, more linear narrative. And Eze’s use of family secrets as a plot engine might feel familiar to seasoned fans of the genre.

Still, the strengths far outweigh any quibbles. This Kind of Trouble is rich, emotionally intelligent, and beautifully written—a rare debut that manages to be both mythic and profoundly human. For anyone hungry for a family saga that pulses with history, heartbreak, and hope, Eze’s novel is one to savour.

I started reading this book, and could not get into it. I found the writing good, but the flow didn't work for me.

This Kind of Trouble by Tochi Eze
Publication Date: August 5/25

A compelling debut novel exploring family, community and the invisible threads of history. This is a powerful multigenerational novel that follows a family’s attempts to outrun a curse placed on their ancestors. Spanning Nigeria, London and the US, the story centers on Benjamin and Margaret, whose passionate romance is overshadowed by their tribal clan who forbids their marriage due to tragic events that befell their grandparents.

Initially the forbidden love feels heady and tantalizing, but it slowly unravels into something darker. Margaret begins to feel the heavy weight of the ancestral curse. Is it the anger of the ancestors or is it a slow devolution of her mental health? Benjamin unwilling to support the changes he is witnessing in Margaret, abandons her and his young daughter. Decades later, he is reluctantly drawn back into their lives when Margaret becomes convinced that the curse is now threatening their grandson, Chuka.

Eze’s novel is rich with themes of identity, family, community and duty. Margaret emerges as a
fierce independent woman - one who builds a successful career and raises a child alone during a time when single motherhood was heavily stigmatized. The novel explores the complexity of family relationships especially within the communal traditions of Igbo-Nigerian culture, where the boundaries between life, death, spirits and ancestors are deeply intertwined.

The novel skillfully shifts between three timelines: the era of British colonization in the early 1900’s in Umumilo, the ill fated love story of the 1960’s, and the present day urgency surrounding Chuka. Through these interwoven narratives, Eze examines the impact of colonization, the tension between traditional spirituality and Christianity, the struggle between maintaining cultural and community traditions vs embracing modernity.

At its heart, this is a story about family - its strengths, expectations and its burdens. Eze thoughtfully portrays the complexity of relationships through marriage, parenthood and the cyclical nature of children caring for their elders. The novel also offers a nuanced exploration of mental health raising the question: is Margaret truly suffering from a psychological condition or does she possess a deep, spiritual connection to her ancestors, one that demands reconciliation for past transgressions?

While I found the themes deeply resonant and the storytelling evocative I struggled to connect with the main characters on an emotional level, which slightly diminished my engagement with the narrative. Nevertheless this is a great debut novel and I look forward to reading future work.