Sankofa is primarily the story of Anna Bain’s journey to discover who she is. Because she is the daughter of a Black West African man and a white woman, Anna has always felt fundamentally different from the people around her, for although she technically belongs to two groups, she does not fit fully into either one. In Sankofa, Chibundu Onuzo illustrates the complexity of such experiences and emphasizes the importance of connecting to all aspects of one’s ethnicity and heritage. Thus, the novel also explores the fact that even a well-intentioned ignorance of race—as Bronwen demonstrates in her parenting style—can also be harmful, for it prevents the child in question from forming a complete identity that embraces the whole of who they are.

Although Bronwen was a loving mother who tried her best to give Anna a good childhood, her privileged background as a white Englishwoman has denied her the knowledge and the tools to help Anna understand her diverse racial heritage. Anna’s childhood spans the 1970s and 1980s, during which Black people in the UK were often targeted by far-right groups. As a result, Anna regularly faced images of racism and race-based violence, but when she turned to her mother for help in understanding these things, Bronwen provided little assistance.