review

Nora Osagiobare’s striking debut is a satire set in contemporary Zurich, brimming with biting humour and social critique.

Zita Bodeca and Armin Banal are the owners of a Swiss fashion company. White and wealthy, the couple have been accused of racism, and want to counter this accusation by producing a reality show with only black actors. Zita and Armin’s relationship is on the rocks: while Zita struggles to run the business and save them from ruin, Armin is constantly out drinking with his friend Thomas. The couple have a son, Paul Banal, who – unbeknown to them at the beginning of the novel – is gay.

Daily Soap is written in short, punchy chapters, and full of humorous encounters and misunderstandings between the cast of colourful characters. Paul Banal has a lover, Prince Otiki, whom he meets in a sauna, and who films Paul in artistic video installations that become increasingly pornographic. Louis de Cabrio is a gigolo and visual artist who is inspired by Prince and Paul’s videos to create his own works of art. Paul falls for Louis and is often to be found sitting admiring him in the restaurant where he works as a waiter.

The plot thickens when Louis’ ex-girlfriend, Annelie, meets Prince’s brother, Thor, and marries him. She is then doubly unfaithful with both Louis and Armin and manages to fall pregnant by both of them, giving birth to one white twin and one black twin. Thor thinks something is still going on between Annelie and Louis and follows her to the opening of Louis’ exhibition, where he notices that some of the male nudes look remarkably like his brother Prince.

Zita buys a painting from Louis only to realize later that it depicts her son Paul with Prince. She denounces Prince to the authorities. Armin on the other hand bails Prince out and decides to drop him off at the family’s holiday chalet to get him away from everyone. Paul happens to turn up and is delighted to find Prince there, but then Zita arrives with Louis, and Paul gets into a fight with Prince and kills him by mistake.  

Daily Soap is an engaging novel about the messy reality of human existence, full of flawed characters that are all the more credible for their vices and quirks.

Find out more: www.keinundaber.ch/buecher/daily-soap

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Kein&Aber Verlag

Ronit Zafran

r.zafran@keinundaber.ch, +41 297 12 22

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