The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Emezi, Akwaeke. The Death of Vivek Oji. Riverhead Books, 2020.

Emezi’s novel opens with a declaration that an unspecified “They” (1) burned the market down on the day Vivek Oji died. The narration introduces Vivek’s father, Chika, when he was 20 years old. Chika’s mother, Ahunna, injured her foot one day and developed a starfish-shaped scar. Chika made a pass at Mary, his brother Ekene’s wife. She became angry and he apologized. Chika later married Kavita, the niece of the doctor at his workplace. The novel shows their child, Vivek, 20 years in the future, trying on Kavita’s gold jewelry in the company of his cousin Osita, Mary and Ekene’s son.

The market was past the junction where Ebenezer, a vulcanizer, worked. Kavita found Vivek’s body on the veranda and he appeared to have been killed. Vivek had been born with a starfish marking on his foot similar to Ahunna’s scar. He had been born on the same day that Ahunna had died.

In a first-person narration, Osita recalls growing up with Vivek. Their mothers enrolled them in SAT prep classes together. Kavita belonged to a group called the Nigerwives, which consisted of foreign women married to Nigerians. Vivek and Osita met other children through this group, including Elizabeth, a girl Osita liked. Osita describes how Vivek had mysterious blackout episodes. Eventually, Elizabeth became Osita’s girlfriend, and they had sex at Vivek’s house. Vivek told Osita he wanted to watch them have sex from the window, but instead appeared in the doorway while experiencing a blackout, scaring Elizabeth.

In a first-person narration, Vivek remarks that he was never what anyone thought he was. The third-person narrator describes Osita’s days after Vivek died, when he drank to excess. Kavita asked Osita to help search Vivek’s room for a charm of Vivek’s that was missing. In the process, Osita opened Vivek’s copy of The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born. In another first-person narration, Vivek says he liked the spelling of “beautyful.”

As narrator, Osita explains that he avoided Vivek and Elizabeth after the incident at Vivek’s parents’ house. Later, he heard Vivek had left university and saw him during a family visit to Ahunna’s old village house. Vivek had stopped cutting his hair and lost weight. Osita and Vivek had an argument when Osita was insulted by Vivek’s suggestion that he might be attracted to men. Kavita agreed to let Mary take Vivek to her church, but the pastor tried to perform an exorcism, and Kavita stopped speaking to Mary. In the meantime, Maja, one of the Nigerwives, found out her husband had been keeping a second family.

After Vivek died, Kavita was determined to find out what had happened to him. As narrator, Osita remarks that he knows what she wants to know. In his own narration, Vivek explains that he always felt heavy in life.

Kavita invited Rhatha, one of the Nigerwives, over with her daughters, Somto and Olunne, thinking the company would be good for Vivek. Vivek began spending time with the Nigerwives’ children again, and Chika was having an affair with Eloise, one of the Nigerwives.

As narrator, Osita explains that he found Vivek at Maja’s house. He admitted he had come because he was distressed after having kissed a male student. Osita then kissed Vivek and the two of them had sex. In a first-person narration, Vivek says he loved Osita.

The third-person narrator explains that Juju was now seeing Elizabeth romantically. One day, Juju saw her father with his second family. Later, Juju thought about how she had kissed Vivek once and never told Elizabeth.

The narrator explains how Ebenezer quarreled with his wife, Chisom, who ran a stall at the market, over their inability to have children. Ebenezer began looking at other women, but on the day a riot broke out, he left the woman he was flirting with, went looking for his wife, and felt ashamed for having fought with her. The narrator clarifies that this was the riot during which the market burned down.

As narrator, Vivek reflects on a time he and Osita spoke about whether Vivek had a spiritual connection with his grandmother. Osita said that Vivek should look inside himself for answers.

Somto told Kavita that on the day Vivek died he had come to her family’s house and probably went to see Juju later. Maja told Kavita that Juju had stopped talking and could not answer questions, which led to an argument. Elizabeth had become angry with Juju after she had admitted having kissed Vivek, and Vivek had died a week later.

Juju had a dream about kissing Vivek and began to speak again. She told Kavita that Vivek had been at her house on the day he died. Juju called Elizabeth and said that they needed to tell Kavita the truth. As narrator, Osita explains that all of them agreed to show Kavita some photographs of Vivek. Later, Osita stayed the night at Juju’s house, where the two of them had sex as he imagined Vivek was with them. Vivek confirms in his narration that he was there.

The third-person narrator describes Vivek’s burial, followed by the children showing Kavita the photographs, which included pictures of Vivek in dresses. They explained to Kavita that Vivek liked to dress as a woman and sometimes went by the name Nnemdi. Kavita was upset and confused. Nnemdi was a name Chika and his brother had considered giving Vivek, but she did not know how Vivek would have known this. The next day, she and Chika went to Vivek’s grave and she began to smash the headstone.

As narrator, Osita describes visiting Vivek’s grave himself. He reflects on how his cousin died in an accident on the day of the riot. Osita had tried to get Nnemdi to leave the market; they had fought and Nnemdi had tripped, hit her head, and died. Nnemdi explains in a first-person narration that she does not blame Osita and that Kavita changed the gravestone inscription to include Nnemdi as Vivek’s middle name.