Akwaeke Emezi (Freshwater; The Death of Vivek Oji) builds twists and turns into the plot of Son of the Morning, a propulsive story that brims with sexy scenes and sensual details as it literally straddles Heaven and Hell--and the mortal Earth between them.
Galilee knows she is not like her "sisters." She feels loved in her all-woman community, but she senses unease from some of the others. Bees swarm around her protectively, and she has a gift for healing. Once she turns 25, Galilee sets out for the nearby U.S. city of Salvation to live on her own.
She meets wealthy Oriakụ and horror writer Bonbon. Oriakụ invites the two to her father's palatial house to view an ancient artifact, but the guards that protect it bar their entry and call in their boss, Helel. Galilee sees him, and the effect is instant and electric. What follows is some of the hottest sex put to page, and their union leads to the collision of Heaven and Hell. The artifact serves as a gate holding back the demons of Hell, and those demons' escape could mean "holy obliteration" for Lucifer (Helel's true identity) and his princes.
Emezi, with whiffs of William Blake, brilliantly reframes questions around Lucifer's fall and its role in the birth of imagination. This breathtaking novel will have readers questioning the definitions of angel and devil, good and evil, right alongside Galilee. The angels and devils make their cases to win her; her choice could save the world--or destroy it. Only Galilee can free herself and, in so doing, experience her own limitless powers to heal. --Jennifer M. Brown