I Read Books: Anansi Boys

Anansi Boys

Fat Charlie Nancy wants a regular life but he is always getting embarrassed, mostly by his father. Then his father dies and he discovers that he has a brother, Spider, and also that his father was an incarnation of the trickster god Anansi. Anansi has roots in West Africa, travelled to the Caribbean with the slaves, then on to America and Britain. He’s a man, and also a spider and sometimes a rabbit (though not really).

This mirrors Charlie’s background; born in Florida, his mother from the (fictional) island of St Andrews, now living in London. Anyway after the funeral he tells a spider he wants to meet his brother. Spider arrives and promptly wrecks Charlie’s life. In desperation he goes to the women who knew his father in Florida and they send him to a mystical land filled with animal people. He makes a deal with the Bird Woman and birds start to attack Spider.

Meanwhile it turns out his boss, a theatrical agent, has been stealing clients money, which Spider uncovered on the one day he was there. The boss murders a client and flees to St Andrews, an island with no extradition treaty. Everyone ends up there – Charlie’s (ex-) financée (now involved with Spider) and her mother and the police officer investigating the case.

It has some good set-piece comedy undercut by dark and mythical currents, and several fun one line jokes. It passes lightly over the black diaspora themes, except when it occasionally lifts the veil at important moments.

Read This: For a sharp, funny, urban fantasy adventure
Don’t Read This: If too much embarrassment just churns your guts
This Was The Last Book I Finished In 2021: Thus ending my reviews for books read last year.