There are many tropes that bug me in fiction. Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister, The Serial Killer features three of them. One: a woman so beautiful that men fall to their knees in her presence. Two: a sibling rivalry where the less attractive sister/brother is jealous of the other sibling’s gorgeous looks. Three: a woman besotted in a man who clearly isn’t interested in a relationship beyond friendship. And yet, if you check Goodreads you’ll see that I gave Braithwaite’s debut novel four stars. Did I make a mistake? Am I mocking Goodreads sub-par rating system? Or is the novel so damn entertaining and so damn smart that the tropes are a feature, not a bug? While I have been known to click on one too many stars and while I do detest Goodread’s rating system (would it kill them to accommodate for half marks!?) it’s Braithwaite’s execution that won me over.
Korede is a nurse, a stickler for the rules who has been earmarked for the head nurse job. She hates most of her lazy, indolent colleagues, but is in love with Tade one of the ward Doctors. Korede’s sister, Ayoola, is a wannabe fashion designer, whose extraordinary beauty makes men go gaga. She also has this unfortunate nack of murdering her boyfriends. Fortunately, she has a nurse as a sister who is willing to race over with bleach and clean up the bloody mess. However, when Ayoola kills Femi, strong and tall with the heart of a poet, Korede’s guilt, her willingness to enable her sister’s atrocities, bubbles to the surface. Things go from fucking awful to apocalyptic when Ayoola unexpectedly visits the hospital and Tade, to Korede’s horror, not only notices her sister but asks the dreaded question: Is she single?
As the story is told from Korede’s perspective, we know how smart and capable she is but also that she’s wracked with jealousy, insecurity and guilt. Her feelings about herself and her sister all feed into those tropes I mentioned above and also heighten the core tension of the novel, namely how far Korede is willing to be manipulated and abused by Ayoola before she reaches breaking point. Key to that question are chapters spread throughout the novel, all titled “Father” where we’re given glimpses into Korede and Ayoola’s less than ideal upbringing. There’s a dark edge to these flashbacks that elevates the book beyond a quirky thriller (with the best title EVER!). What also enhances the narrative is Braithwaite’s love for Nigeria – warts and all – and especially Lagos where she, and Korede, live. I won’t say it feels authentic because what the fuck would I know but she certainly infuses the novel with a sense of place.
My Sister, The Serial Killer might lean heavily on tropes I hate, but it does so with a measure of self-awareness, intelligence and a wicked sense of humour.
