In this blockbuster novel, a father-and-son feud is not all there is to the tempest that erupts when Kolade falls in love with a beautiful blonde maid who works in his family's London home. For lurking beneath the storm is a curse that snakes its way from pre-independence Lagos to Rome, then on to Los Angeles and London, before finally shooting its venom into a near-demented Kolade in Birmingham. We feel for Kolade and are moved to tears - though not, surprisingly, of sadness. For the narrative's uncommon humor rescues laughter from sorrow's teeth.