Korede

Korede is the novel’s protagonist and narrator. She is a Nigerian woman living in the Nigerian city of Lagos. She works as a nurse at a local hospital. Although her age is not stated, she appears to be around late-twenties in age. She lives with her younger sister Ayoola and their mother. She has a strong work ethic and a generally strong moral compass. However, she feels inextricably bound to her younger sister by a sense of familial loyalty, and so on the multiple occasions that Ayoola kills someone, Korede feels obliged to help cover up the crimes. On three separate occasions, when Ayoola murdered her own boyfriends, Korede helped dispose of the bodies and keep the crimes secret.

Korede is made quite anxious by the illegal things she has to do in order to protect her sociopathic sister. In order to help vent these emotions, Korede...