The Edifice

by Kole Omotoso

The Edifice tells the tale of a Nigerian student in a predominantly white university and the slow, painful deterioration of his marriage to an English woman. In this debut novel, Kole Omotoso captures the alienating experiences of a Black man living in 1960s Britain. Dele is a graduate from one of Nigeria's most prestigious universities. After receiving an offer to study in Britain, he is eager to travel overseas and earn his Doctorate degree. But soon the small, significant moments of prejudice he encounters each day leave Dele feeling unhappy and isolated. From the tangible coldness of his fellow students to the demeaning depiction of Africa in the press, he reluctantly concedes that this is not a place he can ever call home. Disheartened, the only remaining light in his life is his relationship with another student named Daisy. Daisy can see that Dele's love for her is overshadowed by the intolerance he faces. So she makes the life-changing decision to move back with him to Nigeria and leave everything she's ever known behind. But the decision Daisy thought would cement their love ultimately leads to its disastrous collapse...

121 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1971

About the author

Bankole Ajibabi Omotoso, also known as Kole Omotoso, is a Nigerian writer and intellectual best known for his works of fiction and in South Africa as the "Yebo Gogo man" in adverts for the telecommunications company Vodacom. His written work is known for its dedication and commitment to fusing a socio-political reappraisal of Africa and respect for human dignity into most of his works.

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why do couples get married? Or to narrow things down, why do men decide to marry and settle down? Surely love must be a major ingredient, or should be, despite the fact that as time goes on the protagonists might get disillusioned, disenchanted and drift apart. This is a common scenario worldwide. In this work a young Nigerian travels abroad for his studies and marries a white English lady, Daisy. Ultimately they come together to Nigeria where things fall apart decisively for the lady. Her man (husband), Dele does not come across as the most charitable of men, as he is wont to cast aspersions on women generally, including his "native" women back at home – are they (women) really that grasping, greedy and importunate? But Daisy actually seems a very nice lady and it's a crying shame that she's subjected to such humiliation and pain by her husband. After all, looking at it objectively, she makes tremendous sacrifices, leaving her well known comfort zone in Europe to be beside the man she loves far away in Africa. The man who treats her like trash. Daisy's docility seems incredible.(Contrast the situation in another celebrated novel, by Mariama Ba – THE SCARLET SONG -, where the "scorned" white female protagonist in a similar situation apparently snaps, kills her own baby and tries to murder her own two-timing man). Some pundits point out that when African writers paint such picture of white women involved with African men suffering inexorably, it is some sort of atonement for how the "western world plundered and purloined Africa". Nonsense. The sympathy would solidly be on Daisy's side...

[Raphael Mokoena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad work, though I personally thought the author went too far in denigrating white women. The work of a temperamental young man at the time perhaps, but some fine pieces of prose.