A dazzling compendium of short stories, ‘Shakara  and other stories’ explores  the diverse expressions of African romance and love even as it peels away the layers of sexual assault and infidelity and delves into the heart of prostitution and sex slavery in Africa.

In “Inverted”, a horrified mother seeks justice by any means necessary after she discovers her daughter has been sexually assaulted and in “The Slayers Religion” which is an Africa Book Club Story of the Month, a randy husband fears he has contracted the Ebola virus as a punishment for his rampant infidelity. In ‘One Day Without Shoes’, a flooded house teaches a couple that love and romance can bloom despite being ravaged by the vagaries of nature and in “Northbound” another Africa Book Club story of the month and a major motion picture titled ‘For My Girls,’ a teenage girl is lured away from home by a scheming boyfriend and winds up as a sex slave where she is forced to have babies which are put up for sale. In ‘What If’, a husband’s looming infidelity fed by his desperate desire to father a child threatens to tear his home apart and in ‘Dream On’, a fairy-tale African romance turns sour when a woman deals with the aftermath of giving up her dreams to raise a family. The title story, “Shakara,” depicts the unlikely love story between a mentally challenged woman who plies her sex trade in the streets of Port Harcourt and the efforts of an ‘oyinbo’ man who loves and tries to save her.