Dangerous Love — Ben Okri

Set in Nigeria, a country failing to come to terms with the atrocity of a recent civil war and the echo of that violence, "Dangerous Love" tells the story of a young man, Omovo, an office-worker and artist, who lives at home with his father and his father's second wife. In the communal world of the compound in which he lives, Omovo has many friends and some enemies, but most important of all there is Ifeyiwa, a beautiful young married woman who he loves with an almost hopeless passion - not because she doesn't return his love, but because they can never be together. Okri builds a vivid picture of Nigerian life: of the compound with its complete lack of privacy, the gossip, the good times, the street life, the complex nature of family relationships and the kindness and treachery of friends. Overshadowing everything is the image of a nation struggling to come to terms with the atrocity of the recent civil war, the echoes of which presage the story's tragic tale.