Waiting for an Angel
{{Short description|2002 political novel by Helon Habila}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Waiting for an Angel
| image = Waiting for an Angel.jpg
| image_size =
| border =
| alt =
| caption =
| author = Helon Habila
| country = Nigeria
| language = English
| genre = Literary Fiction, Social novel
| set_in = Nigeria
| publisher = W. W. Norton & Company
| publisher2 =
| pub_date = 2002
| published =
| media_type = Print (hardcover)
| pages = 256 pp (first edition)
| isbn = 0-393-05193-5
| isbn_note = (first edition)
| oclc = 993037824
| dewey =
| congress =
| preceded_by = Prison Stories
| followed_by = New Writing 14
| website =
}}
Waiting for an Angel is a 2002 political novel written by Nigeria writer Helon Habila. It was first published by New York's publishing firm W. W. Norton & Company.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/helon-habila/waiting-for-an-angel/|title=WAITING FOR AN ANGEL | Kirkus Reviews|website=Kirkusreviews.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-393-05193-3|title=Fiction Book Review: WAITING FOR AN ANGEL by Helon Habila, Author . Norton $23.95 (256p) ISBN 978-0-393-05193-3|website=PublishersWeekly.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.raintaxi.com/waiting-for-an-angel/|title=Waiting For An Angel|website=Raintaxi.com|date=20 December 2013}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/oct/26/featuresreviews.guardianreview8|title=Review: Waiting for an Angel by Helon Habila|date=26 October 2002|newspaper=The Guardian}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/nigeria/habilah1.htm|title=Waiting for an Angel – Helon Habila: an overview of the reviews and critical reactions|website=Complete-review.com}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.mostlyfiction.com/world/habila.htm|title=Helon Habila : Waiting for an Angel : Book Review|website=Mostlyfiction.com}}
Plot summary
The novel is set during the military rule of General Sani Abacha. It focuses mainly on Lomba; a journalist and editor at The Dial who is imprisoned for fabricating "lies" against the government.{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3601679/Paperbacks.html|title=Paperbacks|website=Telegraph.co.uk}}[http://www.spectator.co.uk/books/20342/black-days-in-the-evil-sun.thtml] {{dead link|date=November 2021}}{{Cite web|url=https://this.org/2009/09/14/review-helon-habila-waiting-for-an-angel/|title=Book Review: Helon Habila's Waiting for an Angel|date=14 September 2009|website=This Magazine}}{{Cite web|url=http://africultures.com/en-attendant-un-ange-3413/|title=En attendant un ange|first=Taina|last=Tervonen|website=Africultures.com|date=31 May 2004}}
Reception
It won the 2003 Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Africa category{{Cite web|url=https://www.literaturfestival.com/autoren-en/autoren-2008-en/helon-habila|title=Helon Habila — internationales literaturfestival berlin|website=Literaturfestival.com}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com/Howwedeliver/Prizes/CommonwealthWritersPrize/Pastwinners/2003winners |title=Prizes |access-date=19 August 2021 |archive-date=11 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120611210400/http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com/Howwedeliver/Prizes/CommonwealthWritersPrize/Pastwinners/2003winners |url-status=dead }} Maya Jaggi writing for The Guardian reviewed that: "...(S)ombre, gripping and at times humorous..." that it was "...Cleverly constructed in seven parts, it deftly moves back in time from a period after military rule has ended. (...) In realist vein, the novel's artistry is manifest in the mordant strength and clarity of its language, and its compelling structure. Though the strands are satisfyingly gathered up, each section resembles a short story." For James Urquhart of The Independent "...These unchronological chapters, the feeling of drift in the first half of this book, and Lomba's rather stilted, passionless demeanour, gradually cement into a compressed core of determination to be counted, to resist oppression. (...) Habila's well-crafted novel captures both the sense of mental unbalance of living under a dictatorship and the sacrifices, personal and public, that must be offered to chip away at its ferociously blank face."[http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/paperbacks-waiting-for-an-angelbrlady-gregorys-toothbrushbrroscoebrdirections-to-servantsbrred-poppies-757928.html] {{dead link|date=November 2021}} Dave Gilson of San Francisco Chronicle noted "...Habila's prose is clean and unself-conscious, and he switches easily from dialogues in pidgin to classical references. At times, however, he reveals a fondness for melodrama and tortured imagery. (...) At its best, Habila's writing can be stirring."{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfgate.com/books/article/Freed-from-a-prison-of-thought-in-Nigeria-2675657.php|title=Freed from a prison of thought in Nigeria|first=Dave|last=Gilson|date=2 February 2003|website=Sfgate.com}}