Nigerian actress and author Damilare Kuku is publishing her funny and sweet debut novel Only Big Bumbum Matters Tomorrow this July. Set to publish through Harper Via, the book cover just came out and it is just as exciting as the title.
Kuku’s novel explores, a young Nigerian woman’s desire to reinvent herself with a Brazilian butt lift and a move to Lagos. This news shocks her family and leads to the revelation of many secrets. Check out our book news post here.
Only Big Bumbum Matters Tomorrow reveals the ways in which a woman’s physical appearance can dictate her life and relationships, demonstrating the double-edged sword of beauty. The two book covers do a brilliant job representing the humor and light-heartedness with which Kuku treats the themes of beauty, gender, and family.
While the US book cover features an all-pink background with a caricature of a woman with a butt lift, the UK book cover seems more uplifting in the way that the Black woman depicted is holding her head up high and appears to be dancing around. But one thing is for sure – both covers will make you laugh out loud when paired with the hilarious titles!
In a conversation with us, Kuku shared that she worked closely with both of her editors to share her vision for the cover. She added she could not be happier with both choices:
With the US team, we wanted to build from scratch, giving off the caricature image of BBL. We wanted something that sort of ministered to every market without loosing the Nigerianness.
With the UK cover, I shared my vision with my editor. But I took a back seat and I let my agent and editor drive the artistic process. I think when you can see your vision through the eyes of others, it helps you to create with more clarity.
Kuku’s novel is rife with humor about family secrets, judgmental aunties, and Brazilian butt lifts. Read the full synopsis below:
Freshly out of Obafemi Awolowo University, 20-year-old Temi has a clear plan for her future: she is going to surgically enlarge her backside like all the other Nigerian women, move from Ile-Ife to Lagos, and meet a man who will love her senseless. When she finally finds the courage to tell her mother, older sister, and aunties, her announcement causes an uproar.
But as each of the other women try to cure Temi of what seems like temporary insanity, they begin to spill long-buried secrets, including the truth of Temi’s older sister’s mysterious disappearance five years earlier. In the end, it seems like Temi might be the sanest of them all…
Damilare Kuku has worked as a radio presenter, scriptwriter, film producer, actress, and director. She is the author of the short story collection Nearly All The Men In Lagos Are Mad (2021).
Preorder Only Big Bumbum Matters Tomorrow here!