Love in Colour by Bolu Babalola

A collection of short love stories, Love in Colour is what I like to call a genuine reading experience. The book is split into two parts; old and new tales, with the old tales being retellings of age-old myths and romances, and the new ones being Babalola’s own creations.

I’m in love with how much I’m in love with the love in Love in Colour. Reread that if you need to, but the point is, I loved the book very much. 

A collection of short love stories, Love in Colour is what I like to call a genuine reading experience. The book is split into two parts; old and new tales, with the old tales being retellings of age-old myths and romances, and the new ones being Babalola’s own creations.

Every story is charming in its own way, and I think she did a beyond-excellent job of distinctly bringing the different characters to life.  

I first read this in late 2020, and since then, I’ve been rereading it constantly. The stories are written in a way that means with each reread. It’s easy to spot something new and sink into it a little more. Maybe it’s because I’m a romantic, but every time I read this, there is the tendency to close the book for a little while to properly relish in the love and the warmth.

I have many dog-eared pages and underlined sentences in my copy, and all it does for me is affirm how much I enjoy this. 

While it’s a collection of love stories, all the stories don’t talk about love in the same way. Some are about finding love within yourself and then with someone after. Others are about taking a chance on love even when you don’t want to.

Still, a couple are centred on simple, sweet love, the kind that is secretly wished for. Then, there are some about enduring love through whatever hardships may come. 

Do I have a favorite story? I don’t know. I can’t choose.

I do have a top 3 though – ‘Psyche’ (because I love Greek mythology and seeing it modernized like this is one of the best retellings of a Greek myth I’ve read), ‘Yaa’ (because I’m proudly Ghanaian and the story was so familiar and warm) and ‘Orin’ (because while Orin was falling for Deji, I too, was catching feelings).

As a fan of honest and personal writing, I really enjoyed ‘Alagomeji’, a new story from Babalola inspired by her parents’ love story. While it’s not in my top 3, the tenderness in that story practically floats off the pages, and I really enjoyed it, especially because I think it shows how much the author loves and is inspired by her parents’ love. It’s very sweet.  

Maybe some would call a book like this, so unabashedly wrapped in love and romance, a little whimsical and maybe a little unrealistic but so what? I’m a champion of the idea that life is hard already and literature, specifically romance, can be a wonderful escape.

This is a really good book.

And, in the words of Babalola herself, it’s..

“…about being seen in all your iterations, in every dynamic, brightly and in colour”.

I like romance and love and stories about them, and I think Love in Colour is a glorious encapsulation of both. It brought me plenty of joy, and it is the kind of book that always will. 

I hope we all find ways to love and dream in color at least once in our lives.This is absolutely for you iff you’re a fan of romance and love, especially African ones. Even if you’re not, I’d still recommend it because you just might walk away from it as a convert.