radiogram

As we embarked on the list, he described a fascination with sound, its power and projection, that began as a young boy at the house of a neighbour who had a big radiogram.

The woman, who was tuning the radiogram, turned and took Olanna’s hand.

“And what a proper English accent,” Miss Adebayo murmured, with a pitying smile, before turning back to the radiogram.

She glanced around the room and seemed to shrink even more at the sight of the sofas, the radiogram, the curtains.

Her pregnancy had elevated her, so she could sit idly listening to the radiogram, no longer Mama’s help but now the woman who would give birth to Mama’s grandchild.