You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty: A Novel

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Akwaeke Emezi (b. 1987) is an artist based in liminal spaces. Emezi’s art practice is deeply rooted in the metaphysics of Black spirit, using the lens of indigenous ontologies to focus on embodiment, ritual, and rememory. Featured on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah as well as on the cover of TIME Magazine as a Next Generation Leader, Emezi has given talks at Princeton University, Meta, MoMA, the Schomburg Center, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, etc and is represented as a public speaker by the Tuesday Agency. They have been lauded as ‘one of our greatest living writers’ (Shondaland) and ‘a once-in-a-generation voice’ (Vulture) and are represented by Jacqueline Ko at The Wylie Agency for books, as well as by Mohamed Kheir at Objectively Good Media for management.

A finalist for the 2022 Dublin Literary Award, the 2021 PEN/Jean Stein Prize, the 2021 Dylan Thomas Prize, the 2021 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, and the 2021 Publishing Triangle Award for Trans and Gender-Variant Literature, Emezi’s sophomore adult novel THE DEATH OF VIVEK OJI (Riverhead Books) received a Stonewall Award Honor and was also longlisted for the 2021 Aspen Words Literary Prize. The audiobook narrated by Yetide Badaki and Chukwudi Iwuji won the 2021 Audie Award for Literary Fiction. The novel was a Good Morning America Buzz Pick, an instant New York Times Bestseller, an Indie Bestseller, and an Indie Next selection, receiving rave reviews from The New York Times, USA Today, NPR, The LA Times, and The Washington Post. It was also A New York Times Notable Book and Editor’s Choice, and was named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, The Washington Post, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Teen Vogue, and Vulture. 

YOU MADE A FOOL OF DEATH features Feyi Adekola who wants to learn how to be alive again. It’s been five years since the accident that killed the love of her life and she’s almost a new person now—an artist with her own studio, and sharing a brownstone apartment with her ride-or-die best friend, Joy, who insists it’s time for Feyi to ease back into the dating scene. Feyi isn’t ready for anything serious, but a steamy encounter at a rooftop party cascades into a whirlwind summer she could have never imagined: a luxury trip to a tropical island, decadent meals in the glamorous home of a celebrity chef, and a major curator who wants to launch her art career.

She’s even started dating the perfect guy, but their new relationship might be sabotaged before it has a chance by the dangerous thrill Feyi feels every time she locks eyes with the one person in the house who is most definitely off-limits. This new life she asked for just got a lot more complicated, and Feyi must begin her search for real answers. Who is she ready to become? Can she release her past and honor her grief while still embracing her future? And, of course, there’s the biggest question of all—how far is she willing to go for a second chance at love?

Available on Amazon