Name: Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun
ISBN: 9781911115045

Sarah Ladipo Manyika

Set in San Francisco, this delightful story introduces a truly memorable 75-year-old protagonist, exploring themes of aging, friendship and loss.

Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun

Morayo Dasilva found me at the right time. She is not loud or showy, not a character who commands the world’s attention — but rather, she is the kind of woman whose light reaches you slowly, like sunlight slipping through curtains. And when it does, it stays.

Reading this felt like meeting a version of myself I hadn’t fully named yet… someone soft, reflective, maybe even bruised by life’s unexpected turns, yet still deeply committed to living with joy, curiosity, and grace. There’s something so moving about watching a woman who has every reason to shut down or grow bitter, still choose to remain open, playful, and fiercely independent.

One moment that lingered with me was when Reggie walked into her room unannounced. That startled vulnerability. That need to explain. That glimpse of the weight she’s carrying beneath her bright exterior. It reminded me of how so many of us move through the world stitched together by past pain, still choosing to be light.

This isn’t a story heavy with drama, but it’s full of life’s quiet aches and its most intimate pleasures. It’s about aging, memory, loneliness, and joy, all intertwined. And in Morayo, I saw not just a character but a mirror: a woman who refuses to let the world harden her.

Sarah Ladipo Manyika didn’t just write a novel she gifted us a portrait of strength in softness, and I will carry Morayo with me for a long, long time.

Oluwapelumi Alo 

Morayo Dasilva found me at the right time. She is not loud or showy, not a character who commands the world’s attention — but rather, she is the kind of woman whose light reaches you slowly, like sunlight slipping through curtains. And when it does, it stays.

Reading this felt like meeting a version of myself I hadn’t fully named yet… someone soft, reflective, maybe even bruised by life’s unexpected turns, yet still deeply committed to living with joy, curiosity, and grace. There’s something so moving about watching a woman who has every reason to shut down or grow bitter, still choose to remain open, playful, and fiercely independent.

One moment that lingered with me was when Reggie walked into her room unannounced. That startled vulnerability. That need to explain. That glimpse of the weight she’s carrying beneath her bright exterior. It reminded me of how so many of us move through the world stitched together by past pain, still choosing to be light.

This isn’t a story heavy with drama, but it’s full of life’s quiet aches and its most intimate pleasures. It’s about aging, memory, loneliness, and joy, all intertwined. And in Morayo, I saw not just a character but a mirror: a woman who refuses to let the world harden her.

Sarah Ladipo Manyika didn’t just write a novel she gifted us a portrait of strength in softness, and I will carry Morayo with me for a long, long time.

Maxime van der Wal

A beautiful novella with deceptively easy writing. I loved the diversity in this - not just of its main character (a 74-year-old Nigerian woman in America), but also of the other characters who were given a voice in alternating first-person narratives. My main issue with  Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun  is its shortness. Had the plot been more evolved and had the other characters been explored more, I think this would've been an excellent read. The execution just fell a little flat for me in that aspect, hence the 4 stars.

Laura Dobie

I really enjoyed the narrative device in this novel, passing from one person’s thoughts, to an encounter with another person, to the other person’s thoughts. A rich portrayal of people’s inner lives and experiences, and an older woman’s loss of independence.

Morayo Da Silva, a cosmopolitan Nigerian woman, lives in hip San Francisco. On the cusp of seventy-five, she is in good health and makes the most of it, enjoying road trips in her vintage Porsche, chatting to strangers, and recollecting characters from her favourite novels. Then she has a fall and her independence crumbles. Without the support of family, she relies on friends and chance encounters. As Morayo recounts her story, moving seamlessly between past and present, we meet Dawud, a charming Palestinian shopkeeper, Sage, a feisty, homeless Grateful Dead devotee, and Antonio, the poet whom Morayo desired more than her ambassador husband. A subtle story about ageing, friendship and loss, this is also a nuanced study of the erotic yearnings of an older woman. "In dreamlike prose, Manyika dips in and out of her present, her past, in a story that argues always for generosity, for connection, for a vigorous and joyful endurance." Karen Joy Fowler, author of The Jane Austen Book Club.

Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun

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