WINNER OF THE OCM PRIZE FOR CARIBBEAN LITERATURE
WINNER OF THE AUTHOR’S CLUB DEBUT NOVEL AWARD
WINNER OF THE GOLDSBORO BOOKS GLASS BELL AWARD
WINNER OF THE AMERICAN BOOK AWARD
SHORTLISTED FOR THE JHALAK PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE MCKITTERICK PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE KITSCHIES GOLDEN TENTACLE AWARD
Named a Best Book of 2022 by The Economist, a top ten debut novel of 2022 by The Observer and most anticipated by Time, Harper’s Bazaar, New Statesman, Buzzfeed, Essence, Good Housekeeping, Book Riot, Real Simple, Nylon and more.
“[A] masterly debut novel. It announces an important new voice in fiction, at once grounded and mythic in its scope and carried by an incantatory prose style that recalls Arundhati Roy’s hugely impactful debut, The God of Small Things… Her writing draws on grief, but Lloyd Banwo’s literary gift lies in her capacity to transfigure that emotion – to conjure a cosmic landscape where the living coexist among the dead.”—The Observer (A Top Ten Debut Novel of 2022)
“Mythic and captivating… Banwo roots the reader in [Trinidad’s] traditions and rituals, in the sights and sounds and colors and smells of fruit vendors, fish vendors, street preachers and schoolchildren. In the glorious matriarchy by which lineage is upheld. The result is a depiction of ordinary life that’s full and breathtaking.”—New York Times Book Review
“[A] moving and mythic debut…Banwo’s stunning lyricism offers a window into her characters as well as a view of the landscape…The otherworldly setting instantly pulls the reader in. This remarkable debut should not be missed.” —Publishers Weekly *Starred Review*
“There are novelists who are called to bear witness. Ayanna Lloyd Banwo is one of them…. Lloyd Banwo’s assured storytelling and poetic prose is magical and hypnotic. When We Were Birds delivers an intimate, resonant, and unforgettable narrative of love that makes the most wondrous, wild, and mystical aspects of our Caribbean feel dearly familiar to all of us.” –– OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature Judges
“[A] wonderfully original debut. . . Banwo has created a unique world expansive enough to contain a ghost story, a love story, a mysterious mythology, and a thoughtful examination of how family bonds keep us firmly rooted to our pasts. ”—Kirkus Reviews
“Suffused with myth and magic, eerie, enchanting... The atmosphere is intensely conjured, with squalling storms, luscious food and sinister acts by night... In the Trinidad of Ayanna Lloyd Banwo, the departed are never gone” ― Sunday Telegraph
“Luminous, gripping, packed with drama, colour and tension... A thoroughly original and emotionally rich examination of love, grief and inheritance... Like the vultures which escort dead souls to the afterlife, Ayanna Lloyd Banwo's novel takes flight and soars”― The Economist
“This magical tale of a Trinidadian gravedigger searching for a father he never met proves we should believe the hype.”― Stella, Sunday Telegraph
“Lyrical, powerful, thought-provoking... The love story leads towards a storm-ridden climactic scene... This is a book about the histories we try to erase and the importance of reckoning with them. It is about 'small lives'; about honouring deaths that have gone 'unclaimed', 'unremembered', 'unmourned'”― Irish Independent
“A searing symphony of magic and loss, love and hope, where in the middle of death, love comes shiny, sparkling and alive. This book might just heal you” — Marlon James, Booker Prize-winning author of A Brief History of Seven Killings
“Combining the richness of myth with razor-sharp observation of contemporary life, When We Were Birds marks the emergence of a distinctive and powerful voice.” — Pat Barker, Booker Prize-winning author of The Silence of the Girls
“When We Were Birds more than sings, more than beams. It is the kind of story that makes you want to spread your arms open wide, embrace the sky, and take flight in your own little way. It is glorious.” — Robert Jones, Jr., New York Times bestselling author of The Prophets
“Exceptional: the originality of its premise, the power and beauty of its prose, the depth of its explorations of what it means to love and be loved.”— Jacob Ross, Jhalak Prize winner and author of Black Rain Falling
“Magical, enchanting, majestic... Infused with the lush and terrible beauty of the Trinidadian landscape, When We Were Birds weaves dreams and apparitions, religion and myth, into a story of love in its many manifestations.”— Barbara Jenkins, author of De Rightest Place
“I absolutely loved it, and I'm sure everyone who picks it up will love it too. When We Were Birds has a similar power and depth to This One Sky Day. It is a love story between two outsiders but also a love letter to language itself, full of myth but deeply grounded in reality. I cannot wait to read what Ayanna writes next!’’— Anna Ellory, author of The Rabbit Girls
‘‘Uplifting, engaging, expansive: this was just the book I needed. In a voice infused with the rhythms of Trinidad and Tobago, Banwo has crafted the perfect love story, one that moves with deftness between the furies of urban poverty and the gentle infinities of the afterlife. The hard-won peace and redemptive love in this story are real, and something we need more of in the world’’— Kawai Strong Washburn, Winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel, Sharks in the Time of Saviors
‘‘Authentic, stirring, magical - a book that will haunt you long after you finish reading it. Full of intricate details and rhythmic prose, it explores the complexities of love and legacy, the struggles of life and the rituals of death.’’— Shakirah Bourne, author of In Time of Need
“Where to begin listing Ayanna Lloyd Banwo’s many achievements with this extraordinary debut? It is rare for me to open a novel and fall into it with such catalyzing, total surrender. Banwo’s powerfully formed literary gifts render each word, voice, and character with pulse and grit and aliveness. Every ordinary and fantastical occurrence in these pages reveal a novelist who arrives here in full flight with When We Were Birds—a marvel of a book.”— Canisia Lubrin, Windham -Campbell prize winner and author of The Dyzgraphxst
“A love story, a ghost story and a coming-of-age story, all masterfully woven into one. I loved it!.”— Claire Adam, author of Golden Child
“I was spellbound! A gorgeous, fantastical story that deftly weaves the earthly and ethereal and melds their boundaries. Womanhood and life within death is told through magical realism. A mesmerising love story that is achingly tender.” — Bolu Babalola, author of Love in Colour
“Ayanna Lloyd Banwo is a rising literary star from a region which gave the world three Nobel Laureates in literature. She comes from a lineage of high Caribbean Lit and it shows. This is an impressive debut about love, family, ancestry, the dead and the living. Read this book for its magic and realism too, for its deft weaving together of lives... Ayanna Lloyd Banwo conjures old magic and yet she is a strong, new voice.”— Monique Roffey, Costa Book of the Year author of The Mermaid of Black Conch
“An eloquent and breathtaking novel from an irresistible new voice. The words are there on the page and then whoop! Suddenly they are right in the centre of your heart. Ayanna Lloyd Banwo writes on the wings of love and death.”— Tessa McWatt, OCM Bocas Prize for Non-Fiction winner and author of The Snow Line
“Ayanna Lloyd Banwo is one of those rare voices you come across once in a long while. She reminds us what we should expect from great writing: the daring to take chances and to experiment with language and form.”— Helon Habila, Windham-Campbell Literature Prize winning author of Oil on Water
‘‘Stunning, lyrical, original. A work of real power and beauty, a story of magic and love, the living and the dead in Trinidad, this novel had me spellbound. I was with Yejide and Darwin all the way’’ — Zoe Somerville, author of The Night of the Flood
‘‘When We Were Birds plays in the liminal spaces between the order of things and people. Its lovers question the body and the soul, their duties and desires, the real and the surreal. This is a story fluttering between dark and light, life and death, hollowing out a place in us all for love’’ — Richard Georges, author of Make Us All Islands
“It's a knockout, and Ayanna Lloyd Banwo is a star. I want to read everything she writes.”— Niven Govinden, author of Diary of a Film
“A shining new light on the literary scene. When We Were Birds is a novel reminiscent of old folklore tales, woven with myths, ghosts and love, and told with a powerful voice that is simply unforgettable.”— Ronali Collings, author of All the Single Ladies
“Banwo’s spirited, finely wrought prose draws you in and doesn’t let go. When We Were Birds marks a distinctive, bold and truthful new voice in literature. Long may she fly.’’— Courttia Newland, author of A River Called Time
“Ayanna Lloyd Banwo writes with the confidence and skill of prize-winning greats like Marilynne Robinson, Toni Morrison, and Isabel Allende. She’s swept me off my feet.”— Megan Bradbury, author of Everyone is Watching
“Ayanna Lloyd Banwo’s voice is haunting, and When We Were Birds is a novel of exquisite detail that opens up the liminal space between folklore and the world we inhabit.”— Avni Doshi, author of the Booker prize shortlisted novel, Burnt Sugar
‘‘Haunting, beautiful and sharply observed. A story that gets under your skin, with characters that burrow into your heart. I adored it.’’— Sara Nisha Adams, author of The Reading List
