Introducing Diana Anyakwo

Freedom comes with the courage to be seen

15-year-old Lily has been sent from her home in Lagos, Nigeria, to a new school and a new family in Manchester, England.  She thought it would be a chance to reinvent herself, become the shiny-happy-confident girl that everyone wants to be around. But it hasn’t turned out like that.

Here, without friends or someone to confide in, she struggles to fit in – and being ‘different’ feels newly dangerous, vulnerable and provocative.

Lily looks back at her childhood and confronts the family trauma that turned her young life upside down, triggering the series of events that brought her here. Can she rely on the strength she built for herself back then, in order to save herself now?

My Life as a Chameleon is a powerful story of resilience and belonging, about family secrets and how they can destroy even the deepest bonds. It is a story about finding your place in the world and realising you deserve to be there.

DIANA ANYAKWO grew up in Lagos, Nigeria. She is of mixed Irish and Nigerian heritage. She moved to the UK when she was a teenager and later graduated from the University of Manchester with a degree in Molecular Biology and a Masters in Bioreactor Systems. She spent three years in Athens, Greece where she taught English and worked as an editor at an educational publisher.

She currently lives and works in Manchester as a freelance writer and editor of English Language teaching materials.

She loves reading, writing and binge-watching TV series. She also loves going for long walks to help get inspiration for her writing.

My Life as a Chameleon by Diana Anyakwo, April 2022.