Contemporary fiction
Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?
Debut
We love supporting debut authors. Congrats, Lizzie Damilola Blackburn, on your first book!
Quick take
This vibrant, winning novel follows the (mis)adventures of a woman in pursuit of a date for her cousin’s wedding.
Good to know
Inspirational
Light read
LOL
Love triangle
Synopsis
Meet Yinka: a thirty-something, Oxford-educated, British Nigerian woman with a well-paid job, good friends, and a mother whose constant refrain is “Yinka, where is your huzband?”
Yinka’s Nigerian aunties frequently pray for her delivery from singledom, her work friends think she's too traditional (she’s saving herself for marriage!), her girlfriends think she needs to get over her ex already, and the men in her life...well, that’s a whole other story. But Yinka herself has always believed that true love will find her when the time is right.
Still, when her cousin gets engaged, Yinka commences Operation Find-A-Date for Rachel’s Wedding. Aided by a spreadsheet and her best friend, Yinka is determined to succeed. Will Yinka find herself a huzband? And what if the thing she really needs to find is herself?
Yinka, Where is Your Huzband? brilliantly subverts the traditional romantic comedy with an unconventional heroine who bravely asks the questions we all have about love. Wry, acerbic, moving, this is a love story that makes you smile but also makes you think—and explores what it means to find your way between two cultures, both of which are yours.
Free sample
Get an early look from the first pages of Yinka, Where is Your Huzband?.
Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?
The Prayer of the Century
Saturday
It’s two hours into my sister’s baby shower and so far not one person has said, “So, Yinka, when is it going to be your turn?” Or the classic, “Yinka, where is your huzband?”
Thank you, God!
After going crazy with the party popper emoji and asking Nana what time she’ll reach, I shove my phone into my back pocket. Let’s just hope I haven’t inadvertently jinxed myself by celebrating too soon.
Slouching back in my chair, I stare at Kemi and her friends dancing in the center of her living room: all bumping and grinding, serious expressions on their faces, as though they’re competing in an Afrobeats dancing competition.
I look at those still seated: a red-?haired woman and another with an eyebrow piercing who must be Kemi’s workmates, and four of my aunties. Like me, my aunties are struggling to finish their plates of jollof rice. It’s far too mild for our palates. I know everyone can’t take spice, but whoever made this didn’t represent us, Nigerians. Succumbing to defeat, I abandon the plate under my chair. When I look up, I spot Mum waddling through the throng of dancers, her wide hips swaying. When she gets to the front, she jabs her fingers against Kemi’s phone, before giving up and swiveling around. Mum still owns a Nokia 3410 so operating an iPhone is beyond her capacity.
“Hello?o! Hello?o!” she cries in a thick Nigerian accent. The thick Nigerian accent, mind you, that she still has, despite having moved to the UK way back in the eighties. “Can I have everyone’s attention, please?”
But the music drowns her out. Kemi and her friends carry on dancing to the song. Except my younger sister goes one step further. As though she has completely forgotten about the massive bump attached to her front, she dips her knees and bends her back and—oh, good Lord. She’s twerking.
Why I love it
Josie Silver
Author, The Two Lives of Lydia Bird
If I had to choose one word to sum up Yinka, Where is Your Huzband? it would be charming—quickly followed by fresh, modern, joyful, and great fun. On the one hand it’s a classic “single girl seeks date for wedding rom-com”, but Lizzie’s witty, joyful voice breathes an absolute blast of fresh air across the genre.
Yinka is an instantly likeable, big-hearted girl in need of a date for her cousin’s upcoming wedding, so she draws up a foolproof plan to hook herself a guy before the big day. So far, so good. Enter her family—her meddling mum and her humorous, interfering aunties, all of whom pray daily for Yinka’s release from singledom, plus her friends who think her “no sex before marriage rule” is too traditional, and we have a girl trying to walk the tightrope between her Nigerian roots and her London life, with often hilarious results. The warm ensemble cast will make you laugh out loud, and you’ll find yourself willing Yinka on in her search for a date. The story bubbles like fine champagne with love and loyalty, and sees Yinka digging deep towards the ultimate realization that the most important person she needs to find is herself.
This is a proper curl-up-and-escape kind of book, warm and super relatable. I loved it, and I’m sure you will too.
Member ratings (1,608)
Brittany G.
Toledo, OH
Unique, lovable characters. I enjoyed the way the author used romance to discuss topics like colorism, racism, singleness, celibacy, etc. I didn’t always agree with Yinka, but I always rooted for her!
Cassidy R.
Avon, OH
I cannot wait for Blackburn's follow up go this book! Yinka was such a relatable, compelling character and even when she was making bad decisions, I couldn't help but root for her. This book was a gem
Sylvia G.
Eagle River, AK
This book was good! The self love; the growth; the taking ownership of who you are. It was all such amazing development and I love how in the end it was self love, not a husband, that made her happy.
Aubree F.
Milford, CT
What a refreshing book! I loved the growth and that Yinka goes through on her road to self development/self acceptance; how she holds firm to her strong roots and Christian values despite hardships.
Mosunmola A.
Gainesville , FL
The book cover caught my interest! It was a fun read. A bit slow but the slightly tumultuous love story snagged my attention. I loved the faith-based perspective. It was nice to see Christian love