My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

SIMON: We learn, of course, later in the novel that she has - not that this excuses anything, but she has had her moments of confrontation, challenge and suffering in life.īRAITHWAITE: Yes, yes, definitely. And because Korede is a certain kind of way, Ayoola is frozen in this place where she is used to being protected, and she's used to behaving very much like a child. They both play their parts.īecause Ayoola is a certain type of way, Korede becomes a certain kind of way. And I think this is what happens to Korede and Ayoola. Does this kind of sentence her to a lifetime of cleaning up for her younger sister?īRAITHWAITE: You know, the two of them - in my mind, they're sort of two sides of the same coin, and - because, you know, with family, you often find yourself playing set roles. SIMON: Well, tell us about these two sisters. SIMON: That's quite a premise for a book. Her book is 'My Sister, The Serial Killer.'Īnd Oyinkan Braithwaite, who was a 2016 finalist for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, joins us from Lagos, Nigeria. But how do you love or cover up for a sister who kills her boyfriends and then develops a fixation for a man whom you long to love? Do you tip him off? Do you stop your sister? Or do you stand back? That's the plot at the heart of a dark comedy enlivened by a deadpan wit by the Nigerian novelist Oyinkan Braithwaite. Siblings love, disparage, look out for and cover up for one another all of their lives.

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite