“You Can’t Sit With Them” by Peace Anazodo is a powerful, emotionally charged novel that blends family drama with social critique, offering a vivid portrait of sacrifice, resilience, and the cost of belonging.
Review by Philo O'fuose
Author: Peace Anazodo
Publisher: Rayany Publishing (Scotland)
Rating: 4 STARS
Peace Anazodo’s You Can’t Sit With Them is part of Rayany Publishing’s The Nigerian Diaspora series and follows the life of Osas Ediku, a young girl whose childhood is marked by tragedy. At just four years old, Osas loses her father, a devoted police officer. Her mother, Ruth, left without education or inheritance, makes a vow that her daughter will not be left behind. What unfolds is a story of ferocious maternal determination, unthinkable sacrifices, and the painful compromises required to secure a future in a society stratified by privilege.
Themes & Emotional Core
Diaspora & Belonging: The novel explores how Nigerian families navigate identity, class, and opportunity both at home and abroad. The title itself—You Can’t Sit With Them—suggests exclusion, hierarchy, and the struggle for acceptance.
Motherhood & Sacrifice: Ruth’s relentless drive to secure Osas’s future highlights the quiet heroism of mothers who fight against systemic barriers.
Privilege & Power: By situating Ruth and Osas alongside the privileged children of her late husband’s colleagues, Anazodo exposes the psychological toll of proximity to wealth and influence.
Resilience & Agency: Osas’s journey is not only about survival but about carving out her own identity in the shadow of her mother’s sacrifices.
Strengths of the Book
Cinematic storytelling: The narrative is brilliantly done inn a way that makes the characters come alive and seem vivid. That way, the reader is lured into a journey with Osas and nothing will ever prepare you for the ending.
Emotional authenticity: Anazodo writes with restraint yet intensity, making the heartbreak and triumphs feel deeply real.
Character depth: Ruth is not idealized—her compromises and humiliations are portrayed with nuance, showing the cost of ambition and survival.
Atmospheric realism: The book captures the textures of Nigerian life and diaspora struggles with vivid detail, making it resonate beyond its immediate setting.
Possible Limitations
Readers seeking a light or purely uplifting narrative may find the emotional weight and social critique demanding.
The novel’s focus on sacrifice and exclusion means it leans into somber realism rather than escapist storytelling.
Verdict
You Can’t Sit With Them is a gripping, socially conscious novel that will appeal to readers interested in diaspora narratives, family sagas, and stories of resilience against systemic inequality. Peace Anazodo delivers a tale that is both intimate and universal, reminding us of the hidden costs of survival and the quiet strength of those who refuse to be erased.
If you value fiction that combines emotional depth, cultural insight, and narrative suspense, this book is a standout addition to contemporary Nigerian diaspora literature.
Philo O'fuose is a seasoned editor, publisher and lead literature critique for Bookause. She lives in Canada.