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.
An enigmatic unnamed narrator observes of Emezi's central character, Galilee Kincaid, "I had such plans for her," thus setting up the mystery at the novel's core. Who is the narrator; who is Galilee; and what is the relationship between them? Galilee knows she is not like her "sisters." She feels loved and protected in her all-woman community, by its matriarch as well as by her mother and cousin. But she senses unease from some of the others. "She smells different," says Sage, referring to Galilee's scent of "bones under dead leaves." 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.
In a yoga class, 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. In exchange for allowing her two friends to look at the artifact, Galilee offers Helel a "dance."
What follows is some of the hottest sex put to page, as destiny plays out, 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. Close third-person narratives move among Galilee, Lucifer, and his prince Leviathan, with the occasional intrusion of that unnamed narrator (whose identity is later revealed). Lucifer's princes think Galilee is dangerously close to their leader, and want her dead. The narrator has sent unknowing Galilee to wrap up some unfinished business with Lucifer. Is she fated to be a pawn between these opposing forces, or can she heal them?
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. Through her relationship to Lucifer, she comes to learn who she is and what she wants. 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
Shelf Talker: Akwaeke Emezi's breathtaking novel of finding one's identity materializes on an epic scale, as Galilee Kincaid straddles Heaven and Hell to take her rightful place.