Babalola, Bolu: Love in Colour Mythical Tales From Around the World, Retold

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ''Perfection in short story form. So rarely is love expressed this richly, this vividly, or this artfully.'' Candice Carty-Williams ''Beautifully written and full of joy. Bolu Babalola is a star.'' Meg Cabot Bolu Babalola takes the most beautiful love stories from history and mythology and rewrites them with incredible new detail and vivacity in her debut collection. Focusing on the magical folktales of West Africa, Babalola also reimagines iconic Greek myths, ancient legends from the Middle East, and stories from countries that no longer exist in our world. A high-born Nigerian goddess feels beaten down and unappreciated by her gregarious lover and longs to be truly seen. A young businesswoman attempts to make a great leap in her company, and an even greater one in her love life. A powerful Ghanaian spokeswoman is forced to decide whether to uphold her family''s politics, or to be true to her heart. Whether captured in the passion of love at first sight, or realising that self-love takes precedent over the latter, the characters in these vibrant stories try to navigate this most complex human emotion and understand why it holds them hostage. Moving exhilaratingly across perspectives, continents and genres, from the historic to the vividly current, Love in Colour is a celebration of romance in all of its forms. ''Here is love as freedom, love as deep joy. Romance will never be dead, as long as Bolu is writing it.'' Jessie Burton