Thirty-six-year-old Joy Okafor Bianchi feels in need of resuscitating her self-image, having taken the brunt of her family's criticism following her recent divorce. So despite having a demanding job as a mental health counselor, she takes it upon herself to coordinate an elaborate 70th birthday party for her mother, Mary, in a big rented house on the outskirts of Toronto.

The entire extended clan is expected to be there, as well as family and friends of Nigerian origin who now live across North America. Joy is determined to show everyone that she's not only surviving, but also thriving post-divorce (even though she's not convinced of that herself most days). But just as the relatives start to arrive and the caterers are setting up, Joy's 12-year-old son, Jamil, reports back with a disturbing piece of news: he can't wake up his grandma from her nap.

"Hope and grief intermingle in these pages, which are also infused with the sights, sounds and tastes of a big Nigerian American gathering, full of food, traditions and stories."

An investigation confirms that Mary Okafor has died in her sleep, and Joy, her siblings and her cousins confront how to transform a birthday party into a wake. Complicating matters considerably, the date is Good Friday. Having seen a brown cow on the side of the road on her way to the hospital, Mary's sister, Nancy --- a devout Christian --- declares this is a sign that Mary, like Jesus, will rise again on the third day. So the family, both believers and skeptics alike, settle in to sit vigil until Easter.

Family reunions, regardless of the reason, tend to bring secrets and resentments to the surface, and this one is no exception. Almost all of the main characters have more going on than they'd like their relatives to know, and the more time they spend together, the harder secrets become to hide. Cousin Robert, whose family has never quite accepted his marriage to Paul, is reluctant to reveal his intentions to relocate to Ghana. Joy's older brother, Michael, won't explain why his wife, Shelly, is a no-show at the party. And Shelly and Michael's 18-year-old daughter, Sarah, is about to celebrate her six-month anniversary with her girlfriend but only feels safe sharing her feelings with her uncle Robert.

Although Louisa Onomé (who's making her adult debut here after writing three young adult novels) makes plenty of room for humor both broad and subtle, she also shows how Mary's death reopens old wounds, particularly Joy's persistent sadness about the death of her twin sister, Peace, 11 years earlier. This new loss has the potential to bring Joy and her brother closer together now that they are one another's closest relatives, or it could drive them farther apart.

Hope and grief intermingle in these pages, which are also infused with the sights, sounds and tastes of a big Nigerian American gathering, full of food, traditions and stories. Readers will feel fortunate to have been invited to be part of this transformative reunion.