Los Hijos de Anansi

Anansi Boys was chosen as the second of three group reads for January by the Proud Readers Of Great Stories group on Goodreads to which I belong. I had already loved hearing the audiobook edition, superbly narrated by Lenny Henry, a few years ago so decided to borrow my OH's ebook edition this time around. I couldn't actually remember much of the story at all which I was glad about because I couldn't spoil any surprises for myself!

Gaiman's tale, at heart, is a coming of age story of sibling rivalry where our inept hero must overcome not only his brother's suave sophistication, but also his own crises of confidence. I could empathise with Fat Charlie on so many occasions! However, this being Gaiman, he also encounters no end of fantastical and supernatural beings which are vividly described so I could easily imagine them all. These beings are inspired by ancient folk tales, 'told before people were even sung into existence'. I recognised several as Brer Rabbit tales and others from Caribbean and African literature I have read and thought this gave Gaiman's imagined world extra power. He has obviously thoroughly researched the mythology and I love how ancient stories and beliefs are woven into Fat Charlie's search. I devoured the whole book in only a couple of sittings because I was so keen to remain within its magic and to know what happens next. A fabulous story!

Fat Charlie has a comfortable life in London and a lovely fiancée whose mother is hell on Earth. Fat Charlie cannot say his life is everything he has ever dreamt of, but when his father dies and he learns he is the son of a god and that he has a brother, the life he knows and Rosie are gone and Fat Charlie wants it back.

This book was a brilliant surprise. Whether you like or do not like American Gods, give this a try because there is nothing in common between the two except that there are gods in it. Fat Charlie, Spider, Rosie, Rosie's mother and Daisy are characters that we easily care about but I wasn't expecting the humour. This book is way funnier than it should be because it is beautifuly written, the characters and story evolve in a very satisfying way and it even has a surprising twist in the end. I was not expecting such a novel from Gaiman, but I am immensely happy I read this. It is become one of my favourites from him.