"Meticulous and heartbreaking, Ibeh's novel explores desire, love, fear, shame, and the emotional cost of being forced to live a lie." -Bookseller

Obiefuna has always been the black sheep of the family: sensitive while his father is pragmatic; a dancer while his brother, Eke, is a natural athlete.

When Obiefuna's father witnesses an intimate moment between his teenage son and the family apprentice, he sends his son to a Christian boarding school. Surrounded by unfamiliar faces who soon become friends, lovers, and enemies, Obiefuna discovers and hides who he really is, while his mother, Uzuomaka, struggles to hold on to her favorite son, her most loyal friend.

Years later, when Obiefuna leaves the boarding school, Nigeria bans same-sex relationships, making it even harder for him to envision the future he wants—a future that feels more unattainable and dangerous than before.

Anhelos is a story of love and loneliness, an elegant, exquisite, and moving novel told from the perspectives of Obiefuna and his mother, Uzoamaka, as they try to move toward a future that embraces them both. In Chukwuebuka Ibeh’s spectacular and intense debut, the question is raised of how we can live freely while politics invade our hearts, our lives, and our conscience.

"A sublime coming-of-age novel. A masterfully crafted and deeply emotional debut." -The Guardian

"A devastating story about the formative years of a young queer person. A novel that marks Chukwuebuka Ibeh’s arrival as a new literary and moral prodigy." -iNews

"A magnificent debut. Ibeh has the ability to ensure that his political stances nourish, without overwhelming, the intimate dramas at the core of his stories. He speaks openly about the writers he admires (Buchi Emecheta, Jhumpa Lahiri, Zadie Smith, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie) and is certainly ambitious." -Daily Telegraph