Published in 2016
“Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun” was a finalist for The Goldsmiths Prize, The Northern California Book Award and the California Book Award. It has been translated into six languages.
Morayo Da Silva, a cosmopolitan Nigerian woman, lives in hip San Francisco. On the cusp of seventy-five, she is in good health and makes the most of it, enjoying road trips in her vintage Porsche, chatting to strangers, and recollecting characters from her favourite novels. Then she has a fall and her independence crumbles. Without the support of family, she relies on friends and chance encounters. As Morayo recounts her story, moving seamlessly between past and present, we meet Dawud, a charming Palestinian shopkeeper, Sage, a feisty, homeless Grateful Dead devotee, and Antonio, the poet whom Morayo desired more than her ambassador husband. This is a subtle story about ageing, friendship and loss. It is also a nuanced study of the erotic yearnings of an older woman.
Buy NOW'Like the dusty spines in Morayo’s bookshelves, every character in this novel hides a vibrant, teeming inner world behind an unspectacular facade […] Ladipo Manyika’s book reminds us of the value of indulgence and delight—in sex, in food, in company, and in reading.’ — The New Statesman
'A thread of self-deprecating humor transforms what could have been a morbid meditation on aging into a tale of common humanity. ' — The New Yorker’s Briefly Noted
'One of the ‘Brilliant Books That You Really Need To Read This Spring’' — Buzzfeed
'It is a thoughtful, gentle, dignified and deeply insightful work with pretty, no, elegant prose thrown in for good measure. The beauty and depth of the prose alone are enough motivation to read this book. This is not your traditional fare from the dusty shelves of orthodox African literature, this is good stuff, recommended reading, not only for individual readers, but for classrooms where these kinds of things are taught. This is how to write.' — Ikhide R. Ikheloa, Critic
'Manyika’s story about an elderly Nigerian woman is quiet, sophisticated and it expands the canon of contemporary African literature into welcome new territory.' — Bernardine Evaristo, Booker Prize Winner
'If aging be a lamp, then Morayo, the protagonist in Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun, is a mesmerizing glow. Astute, sensual, funny, and moving.' — NoViolet Bulawayo, Booker Prize Finalist
'Dr. Morayo Da Silva is one of the most memorable characters you are likely to encounter on the page – intelligent, indomitable, author and survivor of a large life. In dreamlike prose, Manyika dips in and out of her present, her past, in a story that argues always for generosity, for connection, for a vigorous and joyful endurance.' — Karen Joy Fowler, author of The Jane Austen Book Club
'In this gorgeous and finely crafted book Sarah Manyika takes a sideways look at the lives of other people, lives that usually pass us and each other by, that when they touch may do so with no more than a glancing blow, but may also connect, as they do in Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun, tenderly, simply and sweetly. Sarah Manyika’s novel shows ordinary people at their best. Uplifting!' — Aminatta Forna, author of The Window Seat
'Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun follows the adventures of the fabulous Dr. Morayo, a woman dancing on the edge of old age. This remarkable novella contains multitudes. It is a story of aging; the wry, stately voice of Dr. Morayo gives us a Grand Old Heroine for our times: mischievous, wise, fallible, feisty, and above all, strong. It is a love affair with San Francisco; a contrapuntal variety of voices and perspectives bring the city to eager, brimming life. And it is deeply political: speaking of a Nigerian woman’s awesome sense of power and her simultaneous anguish at the depredations of her boko-haramed hometown. Wise, tender and beautifully voiced, Like A Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun is a storytelling triumph.' — Lavanya Sankaran, author of The Hope Factory
'This unforgettable novel narrated through an amazing polyphony of voices is a powerful meditation on loss, memory, exile and loneliness. The characters in this novel will stay with you.' —E.C. Osondu, author of Voice of America
'A wonderfully constructed novel, always surprising and wrong-footing the reader at every turn and challenging one’s assumptions about the Other. Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun is a delightful multi-helical reading experience that speaks to our times in insightful and pleasantly understated ways.' — Brian Chikwava, author of Harare North
'Sarah Manyika’s Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun is the rare sort of book that, from the instant you pick it up, you know that you will privy to the most intimate secrets. It is as if Dr. Morayo Da Silva is speaking directly into your ear. A real life-force of a character whose honesty, warmth, energy, and bravery in the face of inevitable loss springs forth on the page. Chekhov once said that the ‘Russian loves to recall living, but he does not love living.” Da Silva manages, in her unique way, to love both, the remembering and life in the present tense. A beautiful, important new novel, and one that will continue to echo in a reader’s mind for a long time after.' — Peter Orner, author of Am I Alone Here?
