GraceLand

Set in the Nigerian city of Lagos, GraceLand is the story of a teenage boy named Elvis Oke, who is trying to escape the poverty of his community. Starting out as an Elvis Presley impersonator, he takes on a wide variety of jobs, many of which place him in criminal situations.

The novel jumps between two settings, the village of Afikpo from 1972 until 1981, and Lagos from 1983 and onward. This allows readers to observe the shifting nature of Elvis' family dynamic, which changes drastically after the death of his mother and his subsequent move to Lagos. The complexities of maintaining familial and cultural ties in a modernizing society is brought up as well, which is mirrored in the dramatic fragmentation of Elvis' family as the novel progresses.

In Lagos, Elvis is torn between the influences of two characters: his friend Redemption, and the self-proclaimed King of Beggars. Many of the illegal ventures that Elvis partakes in are due to Redemption's influence, and these escapades often lead to conflict with a man known as the Colonel, a prominent and corrupt member of a brutal military regime. The King of Beggars, on the other hand, attempts to direct Elvis to a different path. His presence throughout the novel serves as a crude, and often ignored, moral compass.

Towards the end of the novel, the story briefly diverts its attention from Elvis to take on a slightly larger scope. It depicts the struggle of Elvis's community in resisting the demolition of its home. Elvis’ father and the King of Beggars both play prominent roles in leading the community in protests against the corrupt government's crackdown on the impoverished residents of the slum.

Since the novel frequently alternates between the present of 1983 in Lagos, and during the past of Afikpo from 1972 until 1981, it is important to separate both time periods.

Present: Lagos 1983 :

• Elvis: Elvis is an avid dancer and an Elvis impersonator. Not having completed school, he attempts to survive in the chaotic Lagos by making a living for himself. Inexperienced and naive, he meets all kinds of individuals in Lagos, who greatly influence his actions throughout the novel.
• Sunday: Elvis’ father. Fallen from grace and broken hearted, he spends most of his time drinking. He used to be severe on Elvis when he was young, causing Elvis to lose all respect for his father. Barely cares about his new wife and Elvis' stepmother
• Comfort: Elvis’ stepmother. She dislikes Elvis but is loyal to his father despite his faults.
• Tunji, Akin and Tope: Comfort's children. They regard Elvis with respect.
• Redemption: Ill-behaved, roguish friend of Elvis. He take Elvis under his wing and teaches him how to survive and adapt to a criminal lifestyle. Redemption is an expert at making connections with the people who will serve his purposes; he is not afraid of committing illegal actions to make ends meet.
• King of Beggars: One eyed beggar that Elvis meets on the streets of Lagos. He has a dark past and tries to give season and warn Elvis of the dangers of Lagos and frequenting shady characters.
• The Colonel: In charge of the security at Lagos. He is corrupt, impulsive and extremely violent. He does not hesitate to abuse his powers in his notoriously horrible fashion for monetary gain.

Past, Afikpo 1972 until 1981:

• Joseph: Elvis’ Uncle, wealthy and crooked.
• Beatrice: Elvis’ mother, afflicted with breast cancer from which she dies.
• Innocence: Elvis's eldest cousin, child soldier. He takes part in a crooked scheme with uncle Joseph.
• Oye : Elvis’ grandmother, Beatrice's mother. She support Beatrice through her sickness and tries to comfort Elvis.
• Felicia: Elvis’ aunt. She shares a wicked past with Elvis, and helps him to cope with the passing away of his mother.
• Efua: Elvis’ cousin. They both share intimate and painful memories. Felicia speculates that Efua followed Elvis to Lagos.
• Confusion : town jock, who Elvis regarded highly given the fact that he had the courage to do what he loved as a living.

GraceLand has been well received in the Western literary world. When asked for a book recommendation for The Today Show's January selection, writer Walter Mosley recommended GraceLand. Both authors were featured in a discussion on the show, which helped it gain additional renown.[3]

Publishers Weekly highlighted its two-fold ability to tell the story of Elvis, and the larger issues of poverty and globalization: "Relating how an innocent child grows into a hardened young man, the novel also gives a glimpse into a world foreign to most readers-a brutal Third World country permeated by the excesses and wonders of American popular culture…The book is most powerful when it refrains from polemic and didacticism and simply follows its protagonist on his daily journey through the violent, harsh Nigerian landscape."[4]

An equally positive review came from Booklist, which congratulated Abani by stating: "The novel offers a vibrant picture of an alien yet somehow parallel culture, and while the plot runs off the rails from time to time, the mix of surrealistic horror and cross-cultural humor is irresistible. Abani is a first novelist with a very bright future."[5]

However, other reviews, such as Kirkus Reviews, had a slightly more critical view on the novel, stating: "Unfortunately, the factual background is superior to the author's fictional gifts; the grim story of the Oke family arouses our pity but fails to evoke a more active empathy that would enable readers to see their own yearnings and failures in the rather schematic characters. Worth reading for its searing depiction of modern Africa, but Abani is no Chinua Achebe."[6]

Sophie Harrison from the New York Times Book Review also had some complaints. She heavily criticizes the novel's seemingly extraneous cultural material as chapter headings and the Nigerian recipes scattered throughout. She also comments that "...the horrors of [Elvis' life] are never really assimilated into the book's imaginative structure, and the author's interest in showing us his little-written-about world pulls GraceLand persistently in the direction of nonfiction." Like most other reviewers, however, she ends on an overall positive note, calling it "awkward and original but ultimately worthwhile."[7]

GraceLand has won a host of awards, including the 2005 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award[8] and Hurston-Wright Legacy Award, was the Silver Medalist for the California Book Award, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and Commonwealth Writers Prize,[9] and was shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award.