Reviewed By Paula

When I commenced reading A Worthy Legacy by Tomi Akinyanmi, I immediately thought of the wise words in A Gift From The Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, and Kahlil Gibran's masterpiece, The Prophet. Lindbergh wrote her book while contemplating life by the seashore one summer, using sea shells as a metaphor to capture the essence of life. Gibran's words were spoken through a mysterious prophet on love and the universe. Akinyanmi addresses similar issues through the voices of a young woman and the woman's beloved Grandpa. The inspiration for the author's story is based on her own personal experiences.

A Worthy Legacy comprises 101 pages with a beautifully designed cover jacket, and a very organized format within the book. Akinyanmi acknowledges her first love is poetry and she puts her poetic talent to good use in the book. The inclusion of her poetry enhances and strengthens each specific message passed on to the reader. The author tackles many difficult moral and ethical issues in a non-confrontational manner by utilizing simplicity and beauty in word structure.

The story commences with a young woman who is travelling back to her home village somewhere in Nigeria, to have one last opportunity to see her beloved Grandpa. His hour of death is fast approaching and his family and extended families are gathering round his bed. Grandpa wishes to speak.

In a beautiful excerpt at the beginning of Grandpa's address, he tells his family, "I have little property to bequeath, and it's neither silver nor gold. I have no diamonds to leave as inheritances to you. What I have to give are words, and they are more precious than any other thing I could give you". Grandpa then proceeds to discuss character, tough times, happiness, cycle of life, a God, and many more moral and philosophical questions. Readers from all walks of life will relate to the beauty of her poetry and the power of prose.

The book is divided into Part I with the Grandpa speaking his words of wisdom, and Part II, understanding the essence of the words he shared with his family and the granddaughter. It is also in this latter section, that the granddaughter finds the secret journal she and Grandpa shared and through reading the last journal entry from her Grandpa, she realizes with great clarity what he was truly asking of her, "Suddenly I knew what I had to do. I couldn't keep his message to myself; it was much bigger than I".

I found a paragraph or two within A Worthy Legacy that could have had more clarity, however it was not a distraction from the story. Tomi Akinyanmi received the Reader Views, 2009 Reviewers Choice Award for this book. Overall a lovely written book and the author should be proud of her accomplishment.

Book Synopsis

The Harmattan wind scorches across Nigeria, and an old man lies dying. His community gathers to pay its respects; their haunting songs echoing in the warm twilight. Tomi Akinyanmi, his eldest granddaughter, is present along with the rest of the family, and as she listens to Grandpa’s last words, she feels a resonance deep within her heart. For Grandpa doesn’t talk of regrets, or petty grievances, instead he talks softly about life; how to survive, how to be happy, how to achieve

self-respect.

A Worthy Legacy is a book far greater than its sum of parts; a moral guide that does not preach or command, but simply presents a code for life with a confidence and credibility that allows the reader to relate to and apply its philosophies.

A Worthy Legacy was listed as Hot New Release on Amazon between December and January. The book has also been named a semi-finalist in the non fiction spirituality/Inspirational as well as the non fiction young adult categories in the 2008 Reader Views Literary Awards.

Buy this book at Amazon.ca or at Amazon.com

Only pre-approved registered book reviewers can post on the Book Reviews Forum. To become a book reviewer, your bookclub must be listed on our website and updated regularly.

Book Reviewers:

In the same section where you login, you will notice links, such as “view your profile.” Please click on these and familiarize yourself with our forum.

Only the Publisher can start a new topic which will be a book ready for review. When you see a book you would like to review, please indicate your willingness to review this book by replying. The first person to indicate interest will receive the book by snail mail, a free book in return for a review. You will receive confirmation once the book has been mailed from our office.

For a Book Review:

We have finally enlarged our mandate to review books for a small fee. The reviewer is not part of our staff, nor a free-lancer, but from one of our registered bookclubs!

We ask the person who would like to submit a book for review to send us an email to the following,  without the spaces and the appropriate substitutions for the “at” and “dot” symbols. <books at canadianbookclubs dot com>. Place in the subject field “Book Submission”

If your review application is approve, we will email a mailing address where the book can be sent, along with a small fee. The fee is revised over time to manage and slow final review submissions.

Please be aware that we receive numerous requests. Email response is slow. Hopefully, your submission will be in the right place at the right time.