The Looming Fog

THE BOOK

The Looming Fog (ISBN: 9781933496009 / 1933496002)

Publication date: June 15, 2006
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ABOUT THE LOOMING FOG:

The voice of the story belongs to an intersexual child--a child with male and female genitals--whose mother dies after giving birth to it and whose father abandons it seven years later. Shunned by the villagers because of the mystery of its sex, the child is plagued by the isolation and loneliness created by the lack of a social role in the community. When the child grows, it is gifted with omniscient sight and slowly realizes that rather than being alone, there are others struggling to fit into, or break free of, their society’s expectations and assigned roles.

Inspired by her mother’s experience, as well as her own observations of her native culture, the author weaves a tale steeped in the traditions and lore of rural Nigeria that explores the struggles of people searching for their identity and status and the role that society plays in creating or encouraging the problems of its members. The Looming Fog is a stimulating examination of our desire to not simply live, but to live well—a desire that is the source of our greatest achievements and failures.

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUTTHE LOOMING FOG:

"Rosemary Esehagu has written a novel that expresses a psychologically and socially profound understanding of human existence. "
        ---Linda Raphael, Co-editor of When Night Fell: An Anthology of Holocaust Short Stories.

    "A powerful story . . . A tragic portrayal of how those who comfortably belong are blinded to all the ‘unknowns’ among them."
        ---Suzanne J. Kessler,Author of Lessons from the intersexed and co-author of Gender: An Ethnomethodological Approach.

    "The Looming Fog is very strongly recommended reading for all who have ever been different from others around, and those who appreciate an intimate story with a remarkable outcome suffused with the bittersweet truths of dreamers everywhere."
   ---Midwest Book Review

   "Esehagu works spellbinding strands into her plot with disarming ease. Surprises are constantly recurring and, like a boat sailing on uncharted water, you can hardly predict the direction it is heading to, thus creating a hunger in the reader to remain wedded to the page-turning narrative. ...You can’t take away Esehagu’s bravura imagination or miss being infected with her pulsating narrative pace that bounces up and down in flashbacks, sweeping waves of incredulity of a moment in history steeped in incongruity. The Looming Fog illumes with grandeur rather than being foggy creative-wise."
        ---Henry Akubuiro, The Sun

   "The [intersexed child] slowly unravels the complexities of what it means to be a woman or a man . . . absolutely fascinating."
        ---Tami Brady, TCM Reviews

    "The book is profound and raises many discussion points that would be ideal for a book club selection. I would strongly recommend it."
        ---Mary Simmons, BookPleasures

    "A well-written and interesting novel!"
   ---USABookNews.com

   "This is a very different kind of story, featuring a character who is shunned by virtue of being born an "inter-sexual" child, into a society that defines its people by their gender. Parentless by age seven, the character who is not even given a name by the villagers must overcome poverty and the total rejection of his community. I grant you this may not sound like a story you would rush to read, but it is one that raises interesting questions and provides an insight to Nigerian traditional culture, its people, traditions, and mores."
        ---Alan Caruba, Editor of Bookviews



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Watch out for my next book!
You will know about it first.

Dear reader:
If you are interested in my book, you might also be interested in the following books that provide some valuable insights into the life of intersexuals or into issues surrounding intersex conditions (including the issue of gender).

-As Nature Made him
-Hermaphrodites and the Medical Intervention of Sex
-Middlesex
-Lessons from the Intersexed
-Intersex and Identity: The contested self
-The Psychology of Gender, 2nd Ed.

WORDS FROM ROSEMARY

The world's most powerful tool is a word (or a collection of words), either spoken or written.