How do you begin to find yourself when you only know half of who you are?

As Nnenna Maloney approaches adulthood she longs to connect with her Igbo-Nigerian culture. Her close and tender relationship with her mother, Joanie, becomes strained as Nnenna begins to ask probing questions about her father, who Joanie refuses to discuss.

Nnenna is asking big questions about how to 'be' when she doesn't know the whole of who she is. Meanwhile, Joanie wonders how to love when she has never truly been loved. Their lives are filled with a cast of characters asking similar questions about identity and belonging whilst grappling with the often hilarious encounters of everyday Manchester.

The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney is a funny and tender tribute to community, faith and forgiveness; to growing up and growing into ourselves.

'Nzelu writes with a witty confidence rarely seen in debut fiction. Smart, serious and entertaining' Bernardine Evaristo, Booker-winning author Girl, Woman, Other