This episode of Narrative Edge explores Leave Your Mess at Home, the debut novel from Atlanta-based author Tolani Akinola. Peter Biello and Orlando Montoya unpack the book’s layered story of a Nigerian American family in Chicago as they navigate estrangement, identity, immigration, romance, sexuality, and generational pressures. From a tense Thanksgiving reunion to questions about what families owe one another, this conversation explores why the novel resonates with readers seeking emotionally charged contemporary fiction.

Leave Your Mess at Home by Tolani Akinola

Credit: Pamela Dorman Books

 

What happens when a family spends years hiding its deepest resentments, only to have them surface all at once around the Thanksgiving table? In this episode, Orlando Montoya introduces Peter Biello to Leave Your Mess at Home, a sprawling family drama centered on the fictional Longe family of Chicago. The novel follows four siblings, each carrying their own secrets, disappointments, and ambitions while struggling under the expectations of their Nigerian immigrant parents.

The conversation explores the emotional core of the novel through Sola, the estranged eldest daughter whose return home reignites years of buried conflict. Alongside her siblings Angela, Ola, and Karen, the book examines complicated relationships shaped by immigration, class, sexuality, race, and parental pressure. Orlando highlights how the novel addresses the nuances of Black identity in America, particularly among children of African immigrants navigating spaces where race, culture, and belonging do not always align neatly.

Peter and Orlando also discuss the novel’s appeal as a fast-moving, emotionally charged ensemble story. Orlando compares the experience of reading it to watching a reality television drama unfold, complete with betrayals, explosive confrontations, romance, and family secrets. Beneath the tension, though, the hosts find a thoughtful exploration of forgiveness, reconciliation, and the difficult question at the center of the novel: what do we owe to our families, and what do we owe to ourselves?