I really enjoy learning more about other countries through fiction. Kobby Ben Ben’s debut novel, No One Dies Yet, did not disappoint in this regard. The book is set in Ghana during 2019’s “Year of Return”, which commemorated 400 years since the first enslaved Ghanaians arrived on US shores.

Celebrating this milestone and reckoning with their ancestry, three gay African American friends land in Ghana, where they meet up with Kobby – a local Ghanaian who provides them with access to the underground gay scene in Accra – and Nana – a conservative, heterosexual traditionalist tour guide-cum-fixer. Kobby and Nana remain at odds throughout the trip – taking turns to narrate the story from their very different perspectives. 

At first, it’s an exploration of clashing cultural values and queer life in an African city, and then it becomes a thrilling mystery with some magical twists and murder.

The lines between Kobby (the character) and Kobby (the author) blur. Like the author, Kobby is engaged with the local literary scene and rather eccentric. By blurring these lines, the author is able to deliver a smart novel that explores class, race, gender, sexuality, prejudice, mental illness, grief, postcolonialism, cultural imperialism, violence, history and culture. 

While I really enjoyed the read, it is dense. I had to read it in three tranches (breaking for weeks in between) because at times it does feel like the author was trying to do too much and cram too many ideas and concepts into the book. That said, it was ambitious, experimental and bold. It gave me so much insight and food for thought, and it painted a vivid picture of queer life in Ghana. 

I look forward to reading what this new African literary voice delivers next.

No One Dies Yet by Kobby Ben Ben was published by Europa Editions/Jonathan Ball.