Who Are The Main Characters In Dear Senthuran?

If you're expecting a cast list, 'Dear Senthuran' will surprise you—it’s Akwaeke Emezi’s memoir, so the 'main character' is unequivocally them. But their world is populated by figures who leave indelible marks: their strict mother, whose love is a complicated tide; lovers who orbit their life like fleeting constellations; and the specter of their ogbanje heritage, which feels like a character in its own right. The beauty lies in how these relationships aren’t neatly framed; they’re messy, alive, and often painful. It’s less about who’s who and more about how each person (or spirit) fractures and rebuilds Akwaeke’s sense of self.

Reading 'Dear Senthuran' felt like stepping into a deeply personal conversation with Akwaeke Emezi, who essentially becomes the central character of their own narrative. It's a memoir, so the 'characters' are real people—Akwaeke themselves, their family, friends, and lovers, all woven into this raw, lyrical exploration of identity, art, and survival. The book doesn’t follow a traditional protagonist-antagonist structure; instead, it’s Akwaeke’s unfiltered voice that carries everything, oscillating between vulnerability and defiance. Their relationships with others, like their mother or their partner, are fragmented mirrors reflecting different facets of their journey.

What struck me was how Akwaeke’s spiritual and nonhuman identities (like their ogbanje nature) emerge as almost characters themselves—forces shaping their life. The book’s intimacy makes it hard to separate 'characters' from the emotional atmospheres they inhabit. It’s less about who they are and more about how they exist alongside Akwaeke, sometimes as anchors, sometimes as storms. I finished it feeling like I’d eavesdropped on something sacred, the kind of storytelling that lingers in your bones.