The Middle Daughter

by Chika Unigwe

A lush, powerful tale of family and sisterhood from award-winning author Chika Unigwe, perfect for fans of Bernardine Evaristo and Tayari Jones

Udodi’s death was the beginning of the raging storm but at that moment, we thought that the worst had already happened, and that life would treat us with more kindness.

When seventeen-year-old Nani loses her older sister and then her father in quick succession, her world spins off its axis. Isolated and misunderstood by her grieving mother and sister, she’s drawn to an itinerant preacher, a handsome self-proclaimed man of God who offers her a new place to belong. All too soon, Nani finds herself estranged from her family, tethered to her abusive husband by children she loves but cannot fully comprehend. She must find the courage to break free and wrestle her life back—without losing what she loves most.

A modern reimagining of the myth of Hades and Persephone within a Nigerian family, The Middle Daughter charts Nani’s journey to freedom and homecoming.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Nigeria, African Literature, Contemporary, Africa, Family

Paperback

First published April 14, 2023

About the author

Chika Unigwe was born in Enugu, Nigeria, and now lives in Turnhout, Belgium, with her husband and four children. She writes in English and Dutch.

In April 2014 she was selected for the Hay Festival's Africa39 list of 39 Sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with potential and talent to define future trends in African literature.
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Unigwe holds a BA in English Language and Literature from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and an MA from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. She also holds a PhD from the University of Leiden, The Netherlands, having completed a thesis entitled "In the shadow of Ala. Igbo women writing as an act of righting" in 2004.


Chika Unigwe is een dichter en schrijfster, geboren in Nigeria en wonende in België (zij beschrijft zichzelf als "Afro Belgische"). Ze schrijft in het Nederlands en in het Engels. Ze is doctor in de literatuurwetenschap aan de Universiteit Leiden (Nederland).

Reviews

[BookOfCinz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A heartbreaking read in every sense of the word…

Chika Unigwe’s novel The Middle Daughter centers a wealthy Nigerian family. The father owns a printing business, the mother is a doctor in the public health system and they have three daughters- one is currently in America studying and the other two attends a private school in Nigeria. They are a very happy family, filled with hope and happiness for the future… that is until one night they get a call from America that changes the trajectory of their family and upends life as they know it.

The novel focuses on the middle daughter Nani, but is told from the perspective of the other daughter as well so you get a layered look into what is happening with the family. With dead circling the family, Nani grieves and thinks her mother and sister is not hurting because of how they decide to “move on with life”. She meets and forms a friendship with a Ephraim, a guy who is deeply religious, quotes the Bible and has a very verbose vocabulary that he loves to show off. What started off as a bit of a joke, morphs into something dark.

First let me say- I was warned twice before reading this book that is was very heavy and covered dark themes that will leave your soul aching. I am not sure I was prepared enough because in reading this I got very angry. The writing of this book will have you feeling a lot of different ways and I guess that is the mark of a good writer.

I am going to go ahead and say this, yes I believe women- but I feel like this was not believable Nani did not explore ALL her options and I think that is what left me feeling so MAD and ANGRY with her as a character. She just went right with it- didn’t talk to her Aunty, her sister anyone. Yes I get that there was a lot of shame- BUT for her to fall into that other option it just didn’t seem to make sense to me. Maybe it is not for me to make sense of this. I also felt that the book wrapped up entirely too fast and the author needed an additional 75 pages to really end the book properly.

Overall, is just heartache, pain, sadness and darkness.

[Chinenye · Rating 1 out of 5]

First of all, the entirety of this book is disappointing. What was the lesson?? What exactly was the purpose of writing this book??

To tell us how some people can not stop being stupid?? Who in their right senses moves in with their abuser for fear of being reprimanded by their mother??? You can stand up to your mother when you heard she sells babies, sharp your mouth to make your points known at home and yet take a decision as unreasonable as moving in with your rapist and getting married to him?? As a victim, I can not imagine this ever being an option for any woman, let alone a privileged woman. I do not understand Chika Unigwe’s point of this book but it really was a missed hit. Poor character development. Just taking us on a trip to cringe town. Even after listening to her reason behind this book, this book is poorly written.

I do not and will not recommend.

[Maddalena ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up
I didn't like the beginning of this book, the main character's grief doesn't seem authentic, and I didn't feel much sadness, but it got much better when she met Ephraim and in the end, it was a tragic, touching story.

[Gracie Wandyte · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5🌟 and I’m rating it so because I finished the book and also cause of the end.

I am not blaming Nani for being r**, (of course it was not her fault) but I’m pissed at how daft, senseless and stupid she was.

You made a mistake, but keep acting stupid after that moment!!! Who does that?
Yes grief can change people, but I don’t think grief makes people daft.

Vigil ended at 2am, most estates open their gates at 5 or 6am, so 3hrs is too long to stand at your estate gate????
Abi

Fine! You are in a dirty, smelly house, but still found it convenient to remove your clothes? Like wtf is wrong with you???

I was just disappointed and disgusted that she didn’t fight!

I feel like if her Aunty hadn’t talked to her...

Ephraim deserved worse!
All these so called “men of God” that manipulate and brainwash people enh… claiming God said blah blah blah…
Exist in real life!

I wasted my time reading this book, honestly!
But the writing was good.

[CanadianReader · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was impressed enough with Unigwe’s On Black Sisters Street to be interested in reading more from this Nigerian-born author. Her new novel is quite different from that earlier one, though the two books have some common elements: three young women (this time actual sisters) as central characters and stories that focus on entrapment and abuse. Nani, the main character and eponymous middle daughter, is a teenager when the trouble begins. Her older sister, Udodi, away at university in the US, is killed in a car accident. Then, within a couple of years, her beloved father, Doda, dies from pancreatic cancer. Nani attributes all that subsequently befalls her to those original tragic losses.

Always a top student, she quickly falls behind in school and is no longer even able to imagine pursuing a medical education abroad. She also fails to remain emotionally connected to friends. Brisk and energetic Mother and Nani’s lively younger sister, Ugo, have moved on and re-engaged with life. They can neither understand Nani nor shake the almost mute girl out of melancholia. She spends afternoons sitting in the beautiful garden in front of the family’s spacious home in a gated community in Enugu, a predominantly Christian/Igbo city in southeastern Nigeria. The family is very well-to-do: Doda had an important civil service job and Mother has recently opened the highly lucrative “Rejoice Maternity Clinic.”It’s a hidden-in-plain-sight illegal business: Mother sells the unwanted babies of teenage girls to wealthy couples.

Nani only learns the truth about her mother’s work from Ephraim, an extremely odd Cameroonian who befriends her. He’s willing to listen to her speak of the dead when no one else is. Bombastic and bizarre, he’s an itinerant evangelical preacher, who’s somehow gotten himself into the high-end neighbourhood to share the gospel. Nani has no romantic attraction to him—who could? His ludicrous “bamboozling” of his audience with “the sizableness of [his] vocabulary” coupled with his inability to pronounce the letter “l” make it hard to appreciate the threat he poses. By the time he tells Nani: “You make me a raffing stock,” and “I rove you . . . but you make me so angry,” we understand that he’s dangerous, but it’s still hard not to laugh. I think Unigwe should’ve thought twice about diluting this character’s malevolence with a speech impediment.

Most of the plot revolves around Ephraim’s “abduction” of Nani. He invites her to a Christian forgiveness vigil and when she misses curfew and won’t be able to re-enter her family’s compound, he suggests that she stay at his house. There he rapes and impregnates her. Later he’s Christian enough to forgive her for seducing him.. Nani briefly returns home, but, unable to confide in her sister or mother (for whom the purity of her daughters is paramount) and growing increasingly distraught, she believes Ephraim to be the only one she can turn to. He offers her nothing but marriage “ordained by God,” followed by incarceration in the home, domestic abuse, and two more pregnancies.

The remainder of the novel concerns Nani’s efforts to get away from her captor. There’s a hitch, of course, and a big one: she needs to wrest her children from her husband. Nani’s sister, Ugo, has re-entered the picture at this point, just before fleeing to the US with Mother. The two will return to Nigeria when the investigation into Mother’s illicit business activities dies down. In the meantime, these two are urging Nani to come to the US without the kids.

I knew nothing about this book going into it. Partway through, apparently slow on the uptake, I happened to glance at a blurb on the back cover which, to my surprise, described it as a retelling of the myth of Persephone. I hadn’t made anything of Ephraim’s regular gifts of fruit; it was only when the flowers quite pointedly started dying off that I started to see any parallels. Nani can pass as Persephone, I suppose: she’s naïve and easily lured. She certainly lands in hell . . . but that’s where the parallels end. Ephraim seems an unlikely Hades—he’s too cartoonish— and by no stretch of the imagination is Nani’s mother a Demeter figure. Only at the end, does she mourn and mostly her own failure to assist. Her work—profiteering from teenage fertility—isn’t exactly Demeter’s either, but the business does take a nosedive after Nani’s marriage to Ephraim.

At about the halfway point, I thought Unigwe was just spinning her wheels, her novel mired in melodrama and going nowhere. It began to read like young-adult fare. Nani becomes a broken record. She cites Ephraim’s abuses ad nauseam and endlessly laments her mother’s lack of concern and failure to understand her middle daughter’s commitment to her children. It all becomes very tiresome. Part of the trouble is that Unigwe gives the reader no real reason to love these kids —offputtingly named Holy, PraiseHim, and Godsown by their father. This reader was certainly not invested in their story.

Unigwe’s book did begin with some promise. For one thing, it has an interesting structure. Most chapters are told from Nani’s first-person point of view, but there are some sections concerning the youngest sister, Ugo, which are written in the the third person. Other chapters are presented as a poetic chorus from the point of view of Udodi, the dead sister. These contain many lines in Igbo and sometimes make reference to myths I’m unfamiliar with. Having left the earthly plain, Udodi has a clear view of events but can do little more than make philosophical remarks about them.

In the end, the book bored me. I think a lot of the problem comes down to Ephraim. It’s not that I haven’t known pompous, righteous, and even emotionally abusive types; it’s that Unigwe hasn’t made him feel real. Come to think of it, none of the characters is particularly interesting or credible. I needed to believe in these people for the story to work, and I simply could not.

Rating: 2.5 rounded down

[nina okechukwu · Rating 4 out of 5]

“i fear the man who is my husband.”

if you hate men don’t read this book because it’ll make you hate them even more! jokes aside, this was one of the most heartbreaking books i’ve read lately; 17 year old nani’s world is plunged into darkness as she loses her father and sister. experiencing loss after loss, her heartache is only multiplied when she meets ephraim, the “man of God” who almost feeds off of her grief and despair. not to mention a mother who’s years have hard work have hardened what should be a soft heart for her daughters to seek refuge in. there were so many times where i had to physically put this book down let out a sigh of exasperation at the actions of not only nani but also ephraim, because one thing i’ll never understand is how someone can do evil to a person yet claim to love them. but i’m getting ahead of myself, just read the book!!

“nobody hurts you like the people who know you the best. but nobody knows you the least like people who think they know you best."

a book dripping with loss, grief, heartache, family, trauma, loneliness, and hope, unigwe delivers a powerhouse of a story. the lyrical prose juxtaposed by the igbo phrases and sayings scattered throughout only made the reading experience that more enjoyable. nani’s story is simply tragedy after tragedy after tragedy, my heart felt so heavy as i made my way through this book, exacerbated by the fact that this story is the reality of many women today. the fact that it’s set in nigeria with igbo characters as well just made it all the more visceral for me. this book is jarring as it is demanding; you’ll be forced to reflect on the relationships in your life, and ponder whether the situation you’re in is what you envisioned when you were a child.

“named by a man whose name i refuse to utter, whose name i have expunged from my system and banished to the underworld where it belongs.”

when we talk about feminism i feel like people forget that it’s not just about equal pay or free feminine products, it’s not just about calling out men who inappropriately touch you in a club or shout at you in the street begging for even l sliver of your attention. yes, these issues are important and yes they need to be dealt with expeditiously, but there are women in the world, particularly in third world countries, who would rather take the reality of oppression in the western world than in their own country, because how privileged are we to not live in fear of being burned alive if we reject a marriage proposal. how privileged are we to not live in fear of falling asleep next to our spouses lest we not wake up in the morning. while these issues can happen in the western world yes, we need to acknowledge the fact that they’re more prominent in third world countries, where the lines between crime and punishment are blurred.

if i have daughters i pray that they come to me with all their worries, because nothing scares me more than thinking about my daughter saying “my mom’s going to kill me,” rather than “i need to tell my mom.”

4.5 stars, please read this book🫶🏾

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't expect to like this book that much, it so beautiful written and I even forgot that i was reading a book because i was in the story.
Heartbreaking story but it takes you to see the reality of what many women endure in our society. This book is a story of hope and resilience.

[Precious Sagbodje · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Chika's writing style in this book. I found it relatively easy to read without having to stumble over words or reread sentences.

I didn't enjoy this book. I enjoyed the first thirty pages, but the rest felt off to me.

I didn't like Nani. I think the intention was to show her as an individual who doesn't know how to deal with the grief of losing her sister and father in death, is misunderstood by her mother and remaining sister, and as a result, falls into the hands of a beguiling and controlling man. But there's nothing in the story that makes this believable to me.
In my opinion, Nani is incredibly stupid, not broken by grief or anything. Just plain stupid.
I honestly tried to understand her, but I just couldn't; as a Nigerian neither as someone who has read a lot of broken characters.
None of her decisions made sense to me and it made reading this book all the more tiring.
For me, it would have made more sense if Nani came from a dysfunctional family. But as far as I could tell, before the death of her sister and father, they were a well-rounded family that also had the advantage of being wealthy with sensible parents.

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

So heavy. Incredibly heart wrenching. Excellent writing. I’m beyond heartbroken.

[Toluwa · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a book so short, it carries a lot of weight. The first tragedy is told of very early in the book, and it really doesn't get easier as the story progresses. However, as unhappy as the story is, it doesn't bore or become repetitive.
I really liked Nani and I'm not sure why I did. Her character was also developed very well, so she grew and changed in the way that I thought was fitting. I also enjoyed that this story was not the typical abuse & DV story but it explores those heavy themes expertly.

[Lorraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tuesday's recommendation:

THE MIDDLE DAUGHTER, Chika Unigwe

🌺ABOUT THE BOOK:
When seventeen-year-old Nani loses her older sister and then her father in quick succession, her world spins off its axis. Isolated and misunderstood by her grieving mother and sister, she’s drawn to an itinerant preacher, a handsome self-proclaimed man of God who offers her a new place to belong. All too soon, Nani finds herself estranged from her family, tethered to her abusive husband by children she loves but cannot fully comprehend. She must find the courage to break free and wrestle her life back—without losing what she loves most. Source @goodreads

THE MIDDLE DAUGHTER is a hard, hard read. Equally hard to understand, for anyone, is Nani's decision to stay with her husband.

But, when you have a parent who parents hard, whose soft edges are eroded by the work that she does, it's not hard to understand Nani whose shame and silence, forces her to make a life-altering choice with devastating consequences.

Be prepared to be enraged. Be prepared to want to hurl the book across the room; to scream murder at Ephraim. To want to cradle Nani in your arms and whisper kind words to her.

This is not a one-sitting read. It demands a lot. It takes a lot. Take breaks.

Just. Be. Prepared.

THE MIDDLE DAUGHTER is brutal. It requires courage and hope. Courage to not give up on the story, on Nani. Hope that there is some humanity left in the world.

Parting shots: May we extend softness in our parenting. May our children know that we are always a soft landing for them.

Thank you PRH South Africa for this review copy.

The title is available widely.

[Auggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally done ♥️🥹

No woman, no human, and no 17-year-old deserved what Nani went through 😭.

[Adaobi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mstchewww

[Blessing John · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5✨
Whew! 💆🏽‍♀️ Where to start with this one… 🥺

The first thing to note about this book is that it is supposedly a feminist retelling of the Greek myth of Hades and Pesphorone, in which amongst other things Hades abducted Pesphorone and tricked her into marrying him and then loving him. Stating this outright because IMO, it’s gives necessary context to the framework of the story and I realized that the synopsis on my copy doesn’t mention it at all.

In The Middle Daughter, Chika Unigwe flips the script and makes everything much more intense. We meet Nani, a young woman who in the course of mourning for her father and resenting her family for moving on too soon, falls into the hands of Ephraim, a wicked preacher who will go on to unleash an untold acts of violence and oppression on her, after he tricks her into a sham marriage.

Irrespective of however anyone feels about this book, I think that one thing we can all agree on is the fact that her talent at putting together beautifully crafted prose, speaks for itself. While reading this book, I encountered a good number of such passages and sentences and I just had to reread before moving on, for the sheer pleasure of it. The Udodi, Chorus interludes, had a lot of these.

Unfortunately as heartbreaking and emotionally grueling as Nani’s story turned out to be, I was unable to suspend disbelief enough to feel fully submerged into her reality. This is a big deal for me because even though this is a retelling, it is also literary fiction and the major thing that endears most readers - myself included - to this genre is its proximity to real life as can be obtained from fiction. This is not to say that a young Nigerian woman cannot be deceived by a man in similar circumstances as Nani was, but in many scenarios, the actions of a lot of characters as developed in this book, did not come across to me - as a Nigerian and an Igbo woman - like what one would expect from them in real life.

If I hadn’t felt so exasperated by the actions and inactions of all the major living characters in this book, I probably would have better appreciated what the author was trying to do. But irrespective of whatever I feel about it, I think it’s one of those cautionary tales new adults and women in general need to read to beware of manipulative people and to learn empathy for the women who may have become victims of such abuse.

[Morayo]

I’ve reached my threshold for domestic violence and sexual abuse in fiction this year 🙏🏿 will revisit another time.

[Rishile Mabasa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn’t put it down! Definitely worth the read.

[Bea · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 ⭐⭐

Best een interessant onderwerp : partnergeweld binnen een relatie/huwelijk
Maar wat mij betreft niet mooi uitgewerkt. De meeste karakters komen niet geloofwaardig over.
Jammer.

[Myrthe · Rating 4 out of 5]

✨ The Middle Daughter // Chika Unigwe ✨

Details: 305p, 2023, literary fiction/african
TW/CW: abuse, rape, (sexual) harassment

First notes: I put in a request for a proof copy of this novel based on the synopsis and me wanting to read more varied works of fiction, so when I saw this novel was set in Africa, centered around family dynamic and touches upon delicate topics like abuse and manipulation, I asked if I could read it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐭: So glad I asked. This novel was beautiful, but beautiful feels too shallow. We follow Nani, the middle daughter, but we also get insight into her younger sister Ugo, her older and departed sister Udodi and her husband Ephraim. The story centers highly around abuse and finding a way back to yourself, but boy was it incredibly written and laid out in a way that the reader truly understood everyone’s choices.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬: Even Ephraim’s, which I’m horrified by that I say it. I think that’s also one of the authors strongest assets, character building. Everyone is so unique and has their own clear voice even though we mainly follow Nani.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: We shift from Nani to Udodi to Ephraim to Ugo, whereof Nani has the most chapters, which I think worked really well for this novel. Also because we get multiple perspectives, which makes our understanding of their choices and views much clearer.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 (𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 + 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞): I had not read any book set in Africa yet, so this was wonderful! Also to learn about their history a bit and the county dynamic and classes, really important and interesting.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞: Together with the way Chika Unigwe sets up her characters, the writing style is another aspect I think is really very strong. It was easy to follow and read fast, without losing the beauty in the language. Again: beautiful!

Final notes: The only thing that confused me a bit was the shift in perspectives. The chapters already clarify who’s view we’re seeing, but only Nani was told in the ‘I’ perspective. Nevertheless, the story was phenomenal, painful, but one everyone should try. Glad I got the arc :).

4.25⭐️

[Faith aka Suckerforcoffe · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Shaun · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel’s unique beauty embraces raw melancholy with unconventional charm, moved me to tears repeatedly. Characters, especially Nani, linger long after, becoming part of your world. The impact is heart-shattering, as if gently breaking my heart into fragments. It celebrates the strength of black women, sparking thoughts on nature vs. nurture, and critiques the use of Christianity for harm. Unputdownable.

[Elohor Egbordi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a hard read and only because of the subject matter. I’d read a bit and take a break to read other lighter books. Did this for almost a month cos the beginning-middle of this book broke my heart in a million ways. I always knew I’d be back, because Chika Unigwe is not a writer one will leave and not finish.

I’m just here to say PLEASE READ THIS BOOK. Thank you.

[Achalugo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sigh…I couldn’t handle the main character’s stupidity
It was too much to handle
But a deeply emotional book nonetheless
I felt like the abuser got a lesser punishment than he deserved but i didn’t write the book so I don’t have a say.
I felt like she went all through that for nothing
Just for absolutely nothing

[Yewande Oyebo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m 1/3 into the book, right after the rape, then I decide to come read reviews on goodreads from which I learn that the story gets sadder.

I think Chika Unigwe is an amazing writer but l can’t do another story about a black/Nigerian woman broken like this. 🥲

We need happier stories.

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a happy book, don’t let the roses fool you.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘… to forget and to want is human.’

A tale of love and life, family and sisterhood, grief and how moving on can look like- all these in forms and faces that are so present in real life such that I was spooked!
First a sister dies, the father follows- middle child {Noni} is swallowed in such pain for a moment, she makes hasty choices that alter her life completely.

Lesson: in our lowest moments, people come in our lives not necessarily for the better, and that can change our tomorrow massively. Be present and aware always.

[diamond · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED THIS BOOK!

When I say I can not wait for the rest of the world to read just how good this books is!? I'm a big fan of Chika Unigwe's since her debut novel, On Black Sister's Street. Her latest book is criminally good - I finished it in a few hours because I was that hooked. Very much recommend as your next read.

[Uche Ezeudu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third book from Chika Unigwe I'd be reading and never has she not delivered. In this wonderful story that is told in the POVs of four different characters, we are told of the disaster that befalls a beautiful family of five, first when the oldest daughter dies in a car crash, followed by the death of the father and then the "one-chance" relationship the middle daughter, Nani enters with a religious fanatic.
We are told of how the events of an ill-fated vigil night leads to years of emotional trauma, abuse, excruciating pain, subjugation and all forms of abuse. But then, we get the story of freedom, breakthough, light at the end of the tunnel when all hope seemed lost and the dynamics of the story changes to one of second chance and it becomes right to say "All that ends well is well."
This book was so well and beautifully written and I just loved the way the author was so adept in capturing all emotions described in it. The book just sucks you in and I was not a bit surprised at how much ground I gained in few hours. It becomes even easier that the story is divided in such short chapters and... I could keep going on and on about this masterpiece but I hope the 5 star rating I've given it is enough to drive home my point on how good I think this book is and I fully recommend.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guys I'm back!!! Whoever it might be on the other side reading this lol

Another book read, another half year passed😭💀 The excuse this time is...ehhr my ass was too busy being on adventures in South africa💁🏾‍♀️

Alright, let's get into it!!

1. Initial thoughts

So, miss middle daughter, Nani, you might've just upended me. Never, not once has a book ever brought me to tears, until now. Until Nani.

I borrowed the book from my friend Camille, who I now will regularly and trustily turn to for more book recommendations🫡✨ Thank you Camilleee!! Mwahh😘

This delicate yet heavy story about domestic violence and abuse was...amazing and impressive. The writing is so beautiful and fit well with the story. I appreciated that there weren't too many characters or side plots (barely any) to keep track of, so the main focus truly was on Nani. I also really liked her inner voice, I know some might've thought it too "outsider-ish" like a third person perspective. But I personally preferred that.

It was very triggering at times and hard to read, even though the "heavy" parts weren't that vividly described but her thought processes afterwards were. And they were extraordinary, and heartbreaking. All the talk about her loneliness, helplessness and postpartum depression was especially hard to get through. But that is what makes this book so great!


2. The first night and "unrealistic scenarios"

The trauma really began that night when she sneaked off to the Vigil with Ephraim, when she had to stay at his place because she couldn't go home. And I've seen some reviews talking about that being unrealistic, except it's in fact very realistic? In her eyes he was her friend for a couple months (I believe?) and somebody to trust. She was 17, scared of her mother's reaction should she find out she sneaked off, and had nowhere to go in the middle of the night in Lagos. I'm sorry but I would've gone with him too if I had to choose between the streets or his, albeit shitty, apartment.

Perhaps it was unwise to go to the vigil to begin with, but damn she's a teenager and teenagers break rules all the time, it's like the point of teenage-hood. And it wasn't unsafe in the beginning, as they went to a place with other people. The mistake was not keeping time. And, well, I think she paid for that mistake dearly.


3. Udodi, Nani and Ugo

I adored this little triad. And I was equally heartbroken when it started to fall apart with Udodi's death. I wish we could've gotten to know Udodi more. I guess her only purpose in this story was to die and I saw the necessity for it, but I still wanted to see them all interact more as sisters when they were older. But I guess we can't always get what we want, sigh.

It was quite interesting how Ugo truly depicted a stereotypical (is it really?? cough cough🌚) youngest sister character, with this tendency to self-centredness. I'm still disappointed that she didn't do more to help Nani in the beginning. Ugo only went to her place once to check up on her, and that was it. She barely fought her mother for abandoning Nani. Like, this is your sister and she's gone and you're just doing nothing basically?? Move ur ass girl!!


4. Nani the imperfect victim

You know, the world will never find victims innocent. There will always be a "but she could've done this, she could've thought about this". Nani could've not gone to a vigil with an older, seemingly unknown man. She could've asked her trusted Aunty Enuka to help with an abortion. She could've called and confronted her mother for abandoning her. She could've asked her neighbour Philo for help. She could've made use of her phone she got from Ugo, recorded Ephraim during his abuse, instead of leaving it hidden and turned off for years. She could've not gotten kidnapped and forced to marry Ephraim. She could've not gotten raped and permanently scarred.
She could've chosen to stop being a victim, right?

And don't get me wrong, I do understand the "buts", yes half of what I just said is true and she could've gotten out of this situation earlier had she used the phone smartly. And trusted her aunt, or even her mother. Because from their perspective they thought this was all her choice and she was madly in love with this bum.

But what's maybe not as clear as all of that, is that she felt mentally trapped in that apartment. No she didn't love him and she wasn't delusional that his abuse was rooted in some kind of twisted love. But she still felt defeated in all senses. Not only is the rape enough to break a person, then she was pregnant too?? In a country where abortion is highly illegal, so succeeding with that is hard with no contacts. On top of that, her relationship with her mother was already strained. She was a child and her mother had not showed her that Nani could trust her with something like this. Her only hope lay unfortunately with Ephraim.

Though I will say that hoping a deeply religious man to help with an abortion was indeed delusional. But still, I think everything after that made sense. She was in disbelief, in an extremely fragile position too weak to make her own choices. And so she married him in an unstable state. After that it was just downhill really.


5. The true unrealism

What is actually unrealistic was the ending, because I'm not sure how many victims actually see justice being served like that. It only made sense because of her position and money, or rather Aunty Enuka. But that strengthens the "she could'ves" even more. I was happy to see him arrested and her freed, it was just a bit too convenient that's all.



6. Final thoughts

I really loved the book, but I do think because of the inconsistencies with the phone, maybe the illogical belief that a "devoted" rapist christian would help with an abortion and the rushed ending with the arrest this lands on four stars and not five. I would definitively recommend it still!!
I mean there was a reason I stayed up until 5.30 to read it. It was truly unputdownable🫶🏾

4.2 stars!! Now let me go read some more😚

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5.

Heart wrenching and turbulent, I was captured by this story. It is so beautifully written and perfectly narrated (I listened in parts via BorrowBox)- some of the emotive language made me pause and reread. Unigwe is able to present the deep things so simply and the simple things so deeply. I loved the voice of the main protagonist, Nani- her clarity and directness, the recognition of her own emotional state, the way she could transcribe it into words to allow me direct entry into her mind. A book that held the essence of what it is to be a woman, a daughter, a sister and a mother. I can’t fault it.

[BookishCreativebyElsie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not respond. Nobody hurts you like the people who know you the best. But nobody knows you the least like people who think they know you best.

'Aunty, my story is long.'
"Start from anywhere. Even the longest tuber of yam gets chopped up.'


No. As long as you're alive and well, you've got the chance to turn things around. He hasn't ruined it. He has delayed it.'

I needed to get rid of the dust coating me like fine hair before I could face the world again.