Godwin

Starred review from February 5, 2024
A Pittsburgh grant writer forays into the world of international soccer in the exciting and incisive latest from O’Neill (Netherland). Mark Wolfe belongs to a co-op of freelance technical writers called the Group. After a client complains about his condescending attitude, the co-op’s cofounder, Lakesha Williams, suspends Mark’s dues payments for two weeks so he can take time to get his head together. His half brother Geoff, a British sports agent, enlists his aid in tracking down a teenage soccer player, known only as Godwin, whose skills impressed Geoff in an online video. Mark leaves his wife and child for England, then France, where he reluctantly partners with an unsavory scout named Jean-Luc Lefebvre, who travels to Benin on their behalf in search of Godwin. With Mark heading back home, O’Neill turns to Lefebvre’s adventures in Benin, which involve potholes, mosquitoes, and an endangered species of dog. It would be a spoiler to reveal what Mark learns over the course of his and Lefebvre’s attempt to recruit Godwin, or how the backroom dealings at the Group impact him and Lakesha. As O’Neill artfully pairs the thrill of the hunt for Godwin with the complex politics of cooperative work, the driving force that connects the twinned narratives is the corruptive power of capitalism. This has all the velocity and swerve of an unstoppable free kick.

November 8, 2024

Multi-award-winning O'Neill's (Netherland) latest braids together two stories--one of a Pittsburgh writing collective and another of a search for a gifted teenage soccer player. A technical writer, Mark Wolfe works at the collective. He is restless, dreaming of making big money, as his work suffers; when Lakesha Williams, the group leader, receives a complaint about his work, she urges him to take a brief hiatus. At the same time, Mark's half-brother Geoff, a self-proclaimed soccer agent, lures Mark to London with a wild get-rich-quick scheme. Assisted by seedy French talent scout Jean Lefebvre, Mark and Geoff embark on a fraught search for Godwin, a phenomenally talented, as-yet-undiscovered soccer player from "somewhere in Africa." Mark plunges down this rabbit hole, learning about the shady deals in the soccer world, postcolonial politics, and the lengths people go to for power and money. Meanwhile, Lakesha manages the collective's business, navigating workplace toxicity and small-minded squabbles. Karen Chilton and Kirby Heyborne narrate in alternating sections. Chilton gives voice to Lakesha, capturing her steady, single-minded pragmatism. Heyborne's Mark is layered--bewildered, reflective, dissatisfied, and searching. VERDICT An intriguing look into unsavory backroom deals and the pressures and legacies of colonialism, late capitalism, and greed. This makes an impact.--Joanna M. Burkhardt

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