This Kind of Trouble: A Novel by Tochi EzePublication Date: August 5, 2025
Pages: 320
Add on: Goodreads
Buy the Book: Amazon
Rating: ★★★★
Source: From the Publisher
Genre: Fiction / Cultural Heritage
Publisher: Tiny Reparations Books / Penguin Random House
A riveting tale of forbidden love centered on an estranged couple brought together to reckon with the mysterious events that splintered their family.
In 1960s Lagos, a city enlivened with its newfound independence, headstrong Margaret meets British-born Benjamin, a man seeking his roots after the death of his half-Nigerian father. Despite Margaret’s reluctance, their connection is immediate. They fall in love in the dense, humid city, examining what appears to be their racial and cultural differences. However, as they exchange childhood stories during lazy work lunches, they uncover a past more entangled than they could have ever imagined. Margaret’s deteriorating mental health combined with the shadow of events that transpired decades ago in a small village sets their gradual fracture in motion.
By 2005, Margaret has retired to an upscale gated community in Lagos, and seemingly happy Benjamin lives alone in Atlanta, managing his heart problems with no options when asked to name his next of kin. But their attempt at a settled life is shattered when their grandson begins to show ominous signs echoing the struggles Margaret once faced. The former lovers are forced to reunite to confront the buried secrets they had dismissed in the passion of their youth—secrets that continue to ripple through their family.
A startling and propulsive tale of forbidden love, This Kind of Trouble traces the intertwined legacies of one family’s history, exploring the complex relationship between tradition, modernity, and the ways we seek healing in a changing world. With this debut novel, Tochi Eze announces herself as a dazzling new voice in world literature.
REVIEW
Tochi Eze’s debut, This Kind of Trouble, throws readers into the heart of 1960s Lagos, a city pulsing with the excitement and uncertainty of Nigeria’s independence. At the center are Margaret, a fiercely independent Nigerian woman, and Benjamin, a British-born outsider with Nigerian roots, both haunted by loss and longing. Their lives tangle in a forbidden romance, and what starts as a personal story soon stretches across decades and generations. Eze traces the echoes of colonialism, the power of family secrets, and the pain that persists through ancestry.
Margaret and Benjamin don’t just contend with each other; they wrestle with the weight of tradition, the scars of colonial history, and the pull of their own desires. The novel is steeped in African spirituality and folklore, blending myth with the sharp realities of race, culture, and the messiness of love. Eze’s writing is both lyrical and direct, with a mythic quality that never loses sight of the human core of her characters.
What makes This Kind of Trouble stand out is its ambitious reach. Eze jumps nimbly through time, unravelling the tangled legacies of Margaret and Benjamin’s ancestors. The result is a story that feels both intimate and sweeping, an exploration of how unresolved pain and longing shape not just individuals, but entire generations.
Eze has a knack for revealing just enough; her characters are vivid, flawed, and achingly real, their struggles rendered with insight and grace. The setting, too, is alive: 1960s Lagos bursts off the page, full of colour, tension, and hope. Some readers may find the novel’s sprawling scope and shifting perspectives a challenge, especially if they prefer a tighter, more linear narrative. And Eze’s use of family secrets as a plot engine might feel familiar to seasoned fans of the genre.
Still, the strengths far outweigh any quibbles. This Kind of Trouble is rich, emotionally intelligent, and beautifully written, a rare debut that manages to be both mythic and profoundly human. For anyone hungry for a family saga that pulses with history, heartbreak, and hope, Eze’s novel is one to savour.
