Publisher rewrites romance for Africans
Forget flaxen-haired princesses — Nigerian-based Ankara Press produces books featuring sassy heroines
For readers raised on fairy stories such as Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, romance was populated by white women with flowing locks who were wooed by handsome princes. Mills & Boon provided further fantasy material for how life could be fulfilling for women. Their expectations of love and how to procure it were influenced in no small way by the romantic fiction genre. Ankara Press sets out to change the face of the genre, declaring "a new kind of romance" on the covers of the 10 novels it has published since 2014. The Nigerian-based publisher provides an outlet for romantic fiction written by African authors whose narratives have African settings, storylines and characters. The men may be sex on legs, but they too have complicated emotional back stories and vulnerabilities. They cry, they cook and they’re skilled at kissing. None of the lead characters smokes or uses drugs. Rather, it is smoothies and fruit juice that make frequent appearances. There is little poverty in these stori...
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