Love in Color : Mythical Tales from Around the World, Retold
Author(s): Bolu Babalola
“Perfection in short story form, I am in love with every single word Bolu Babalola has written. So rarely is love expressed this richly, this vividly, or this artfully.” —Candice Carty-Williams, international bestselling author of Queenie
A vibrant collection of love stories from a debut author, retelling myths, folktales, and histories from around the world.
A high-born Nigerian goddess, who has been beaten down and unappreciated by her gregarious lover, longs to be truly seen.
A young businesswoman attempts a great leap in her company, and an even greater one in her love life.
A powerful Ghanaian spokeswoman is forced to decide whether she should uphold her family’s politics or be true to her heart.
In her debut collection, internationally acclaimed writer Bolu Babalola retells the most beautiful love stories from history and mythology with incredible new detail and vivacity. Focusing on the magical folktales of West Africa, Babalola also reimagines Greek myths, ancient legends from the Middle East, and stories from long-erased places.
With an eye towards decolonizing tropes inherent in our favorite tales of love, Babalola has created captivating stories that traverse across perspectives, continents, and genres.
Love in Color is a celebration of romance in all its many splendid forms.
“Babalola’s writing shines”—New York Times Book Review
Review(s):
“In telling these stories, Babalola herself becomes the seer and the seen, subversively providing a corrective to both the Western idea of who gets to indulge in love for love’s sake and whose myths are worthy of retelling... Babalola’s writing shines whether she’s writing parry-riposte banter or fresh, evocative interiority; each story will likely find readers who choose it as their personal favorite in the book. Love in Color, as a whole, is a strong and necessary reset of who is the seer, who is the seen, and who gets to do both.”
"Beautifully written and full of joy. Bolu Babalola is a star."
“Bolu Babalola splashes onto the scene with her fantastic debut collection… Magnificent… These stories are short, they’re perfect for the beach.”
“Luscious… Come for the beautiful and achingly relevant narratives centered around dynamic women… stay for the reminder that the happiest ever after is falling in love with yourself.”
"A thrillingly gifted Nigerian-British author recasts literary legends... Babalola dives deep into the notion that “romance sweetens the casual bitterness we can encounter; it heightens the mundane and makes the terrestrial supernatural.”
“Inventive, intimate, witty and wise, Babalola's irresistible explorations uplift you from the start. Here is love as freedom, love as deep joy. Romance will never be dead, as long as she's writing it.”
"Perfection in short story form, I am in love with every single word Bolu Babalola has written. So rarely is love expressed this richly, this vividly, or this artfully."
"British cultural critic Bolu Babalola's delightful fiction debut is a work of power and pleasure. Drawing largely from African and Asian folklore — featuring Thisbe, Scheherazade, Ọ?un, Nefertiti, and more — Babalola crafts entirely modern love stories without any of the mistreatment of women that pervades so much mythology. The collection also includes three original stories from Babalola, all of which are more than deserving of their place next to the classics. As Babalola herself describes it, the book is 'a step towards decolonizing tropes of love.' It's also a lot of fun."
"Folklore enthusiasts and romcom fans alike will fall hard for Love in Color...Beautifully realized by Babalola, each retelling breathes contemporary imagination into cherished stories, making for luscious tales of loneliness, longing, and love."
"These vibrant stories navigate the most complex human emotion and try to understand why it holds us hostage, while decolonizing tropes by forming new stories that already exist in so many cultures and communities around the world."
ISBN: 9780063078499