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Emezi, Akwaeke. You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty. Atria. May 2022. 288p. ISBN 9781982188702. $27. LITERARY

After the gorgeous verve of the award-worthy novels Freshwater and The Death of Vivek Oji, National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 author Emezi looks at love, loss, and healing from another angle. Feyi has spent five years mourning the death of her one true love and thinks that finally she might be ready for a new relationship. She’s an artist with her own studio, sought out by a major curator, and excited after a summer of wining and dining and one hot rooftop encounter. She’s even started dating a man who seems ideal. But she can’t help feeling drawn to the one person in her life who isn’t available. Smart readers everywhere will be clamoring; with a 150,000-copy first printing.

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