Ben Okri was nineteen when he wrote his first novel, *Flowers and Shadows*, set in Lagos. It depicts the devastating effects a generation searching for its identity has on the next. Jonan Okwi, a ruthless businessman, is corrupted by ambition and finds his past sins casting a long shadow over him. But at the tragic climax of this important novel, the full impact of those sins manifests as the hopes and dreams that weigh heavily on his only son, the idealistic Jivai. Yet, the difficult possibilities of optimism and love expand. *Flowers and Shadows* is a modern African rite of passage, a delightful transitional novel. It is a remarkable novel that starkly proclaims how wealth feeds on poverty, a wealth that ultimately breeds only misery and corruption. The novel's hallmark is the narrator's confident touch in handling events and characters, and his language, which reflects his keen ear for the rhythm of speech as he draws inspiration from his own culture to share it with others. He speaks with elegance and fluidity to an entire generation.