“Till death do us part…”
Seemingly innocent transgressions like squeezing toothpaste or leaving pee on the toilet seat lie in wait to trip up these characters, who become so stifled by their partners that they can’t wait for death to part them.
Some stories in this collection end with cliffhangers, making room for self-reflection and numerous possible endings. These thirteen stories traverse various domestic issues that call for more meaningful steps than grumbling, as the Morgans, Olabisi, Kayode, Vera, and John soon find out.
Ruffled butterfly wings are used as imagery for the delicate family ties of everyday people who are sewn together in marriage. Suspenseful, dramatic, romantic and dipped in an amalgam of Nigerian and Western cultures, these relationships pass through crucibles, with the couples spreading their ruffled, ripped mosaic wings to flutter and fly against all odds.
Ayotunde Mamudu treats every workshop he facilitates like a stage performance, employing theatrical skills he perfected in a secondary school rendition of Wole Soyinka’s Trial of Brother Jero (he played Chume) as teaching aids in all his communication classes. He has now done this for over ten years for corporate organisations across Nigeria, recreating training content for better understanding.
He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Human Capital Development of Nigeria and a proud ‘Josite’, having obtained a Master’s Degree and Bachelor of Arts Degree in English Language from the University of Jos. He is one of the few recipients of the Vice Chancellor Scholar-Scheme awards.
He valiantly attempted to run away from the many books that his late father, Professor Ayo Mamudu, stacked in his study earlier in life, but today, he thoroughly enjoys all things literary.
Ayotunde hails from Edo State but lives in Jos with his wife and two children. He dreams of one day becoming a voice-over actor for cartoon characters.