And Then He Sang A Lullaby

And Then He Sang a Lullaby: Two Brave Men and One Powerful Love

August has spent years learning how to hide.

He is a talented track athlete from Enugu, a son carrying the expectations of his family and a young man struggling to acknowledge a part of himself that could make him a target.

Segun has made a different choice. Openly gay and painfully aware of the dangers surrounding queer people in Nigeria, he refuses to build a relationship with someone who is ashamed to love him.

When August and Segun meet at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, their attraction develops into a tender but complicated romance. Each man offers the other comfort and possibility, but neither can escape the social, religious and political forces shaping their lives.

And Then He Sang a Lullaby by Ani Kayode Somtochukwu is a breathtaking Nigerian love story about identity, shame, resistance and two young men determined to find tenderness in a world that criminalises their existence.

August Has Learned to Survive by Hiding

August appears to be everything his family expects. He is athletic, conventionally masculine and able to move through the world without immediately being identified as gay.

Behind that appearance is a young man burdened by grief, religion and family responsibility. His mother died while giving birth to him, leaving him with guilt he has carried since childhood. His distant father and overbearing sisters expect him to succeed and preserve the family name.

Leaving Enugu for university gives August an opportunity to discover who he might become away from home. Yet physical distance cannot immediately release him from internalised shame.

His attraction to men frightens him because he understands what exposure could cost. Accepting himself could mean losing his family, social standing, personal safety and the future others have planned for him.

August therefore wants love while fearing what honest love requires.

Segun Refuses to Become Someone’s Secret

Segun understands the dangers of being openly gay in Nigeria. He has experienced rejection, state sanctioned violence and the pain of relationships damaged by fear.

Although he is drawn to August, he is reluctant to surrender his heart to a man who may never publicly acknowledge him. Segun wants a partner capable of loving without shame, not someone who will retreat whenever the relationship becomes uncomfortable or dangerous.

His confidence does not make him invulnerable. Beneath his political conviction and apparent strength is someone who wants affection, safety and the freedom to imagine a future with another man.

The relationship between August and Segun becomes the emotional centre of And Then He Sang a Lullaby. Their differences create conflict, but they also force each man to examine what love, courage and freedom mean.

Love Under the Threat of Criminalisation

The romance develops during a period of intensifying hostility towards queer Nigerians. When the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act is passed, existing prejudice gains even greater legal and political force.

August and Segun are no longer dealing only with family disapproval or private discrimination. They must navigate a system in which their relationship can expose them to harassment, violence and criminal punishment.

The law also strengthens people who believe they have permission to police queer bodies and relationships. It turns ordinary acts of tenderness into potential evidence and makes secrecy appear necessary for survival.

This political reality gives the novel its urgency. And Then He Sang a Lullaby is not simply a romance between two students. It is a story about what happens when the state attempts to determine whose love deserves protection and whose existence can be punished.

Family, Religion and Internalised Shame

August’s struggle cannot be separated from his upbringing. Family expectations and religious teaching have shaped how he sees himself, creating a conflict between his desires and the person he believes he is required to become.

The novel examines how shame can enter a person long before anyone directly threatens them. August has absorbed messages about masculinity, duty and sexuality that make self acceptance extremely difficult.

Segun challenges this way of living, but he cannot complete August’s journey for him. Love can offer support, but it cannot substitute for the difficult work of confronting fear and rejecting beliefs built around self denial.

Ani Kayode Somtochukwu handles these tensions with compassion. The characters make painful choices, but they are never reduced to simple symbols. They remain young people searching for love and trying to survive conditions they did not create.

Tenderness as an Act of Resistance

Despite the violence surrounding the characters, the novel makes room for tenderness, friendship, humour and unexpected kindness.

August and Segun find moments of comfort in each other. Their relationship becomes a place where both men can briefly imagine a life beyond fear.

In this Nigerian gay romance novel, love is not presented as an escape from politics. Loving openly becomes political because queer affection is treated as a threat to social and legal order.

The title evokes the quiet comfort of a lullaby, suggesting tenderness offered against pain. It captures the novel’s balance between beauty and grief, hope and danger, intimacy and resistance.

Why Readers Will Be Drawn to This Novel

• A tender and emotionally intense romance between two Nigerian men
• Complex characters whose choices feel personal and believable
• A vivid university setting at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka
• An honest exploration of queer identity, religion and family expectations
• A powerful examination of Nigeria’s hostile legal environment
• Beautiful prose that balances tenderness with political urgency
• Themes of grief, self acceptance, courage and resistance
• An acclaimed debut recognised by major literary awards

The novel will appeal to readers of LGBTQ African fiction, literary romance, queer coming of age stories and contemporary Nigerian literature.

It is also a strong book club selection. Readers can discuss family duty, masculinity, religion, internalised homophobia, political resistance and whether love can flourish when honesty creates danger.

An Award Winning Nigerian Debut

And Then He Sang a Lullaby won the Publishing Triangle’s Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction and the Foreword INDIES Gold Award for Literary Fiction. It was also shortlisted for the Association of Nigerian Authors Prose Prize.

Ani Kayode Somtochukwu is a Nigerian writer and queer liberation activist. His work explores queer identity, resistance, freedom and the political realities affecting LGBTQ people.

The novel has received praise for its emotional honesty, memorable characters and authentic portrayal of two men searching for love in an unaccepting environment.

Learn more about its awards and critical reception on the Grove Atlantic book page.

Explore More Queer African Writing

Discover more powerful stories in Cassava Republic’s African and Black Queer Voices collection.

You may also enjoy Love Offers No Safety, an anthology exploring queer African lives, love, identity and belonging.

Order And Then He Sang a Lullaby Today

And Then He Sang a Lullaby is a moving story about the courage required to love when the world demands secrecy.

Order your copy today and enter the lives of August and Segun as they confront shame, family expectations, political hostility and the dangerous possibility of loving each other honestly.