Read Women discussion

Our Read Around the World book for April is Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta - Set in Nigeria.



Book Blurb
Inspired by Nigeria's folktales and its war, Under the Udala Trees is a deeply searching, powerful debut about the dangers of living and loving openly.
Ijeoma comes of age as her nation does; born before independence, she is eleven when civil war breaks out in the young republic of Nigeria. Sent away to safety, she meets another displaced child and they, star-crossed, fall in love. They are from different ethnic communities. They are also both girls.
When their love is discovered, Ijeoma learns that she will have to hide this part of herself. But there is a cost to living inside a lie.
As Edwidge Danticat has made personal the legacy of Haiti's political coming of age, Okparanta's Under the Udala Trees uses one woman's lifetime to examine the ways in which Nigerians continue to struggle toward selfhood. Even as their nation contends with and recovers from the effects of war and division, Nigerian lives are also wrecked and lost from taboo and prejudice. This story offers a glimmer of hope — a future where a woman might just be able to shape her life around truth and love.

Chinelo Okparanta (Goodreads profile)
Chinelo Okparanta was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and relocated to the United States at the age of ten. She received her BS from The Pennsylvania State University, her MA from Rutgers University, and her MFA from the University of Iowa. She was one of Granta's six New Voices for 2012 and her stories have appeared in Granta, The New Yorker, Tin House, Subtropics, and elsewhere.
Longer bio to be found on her website

Discussion Points
Helpfully, Okparanta's website also provides a book group discussion guide! Some of the questions contain spoilers so I'm putting them all under a tag. I won't be asking anyone to answer all (or any!) questions, but they might be a useful prompt for some of us.

(view spoiler)[1. What did you learn about Nigeria’s civil war? What role does it play in this novel? What is the significance of Ijeoma and Amina being from separate tribes?


2. What is “ubosi chi ji ehihe jie” or “the day night fell in the afternoon,” and how does it impact the lives of Ijeoma and her family? What does her father tell Ijeoma about worrying? Why does he stay in the house rather than join his family in the bunker?


3. After her father’s death, Ijeoma begins to think that perhaps the nature of life is change. Does her view on this subject evolve throughout the story? Is change ultimately presented as a positive force or a negative one?


4. Why does Ijeoma’s mother send Ijeoma off to stay with the grammar school teacher and his wife? When Ijeoma’s mother comes back for her, what is their reconciliation like? What do these scenes reveal about their relationship?


5. Does Ijeoma believe that she acted in error or feel any guilt? How do her mother’s and the teacher’s responses affect her self-perception and life choices? Is she affected by the views on sexuality that she comes to see are held by society? Is the author offering a commentary on how LGBT citizens are treated in Nigeria today?


6. Explore the effects of war on those it touches in the book. Who does the war seem to have the greatest impact on? How are the lives of the characters altered by the war going on around them? Does the author provide a clear sense of what the warring groups are fighting over? Ultimately, what view of war and conflict or message(s) about war and conflict does the author offer to her readers?


7. Consider how love is defined within the novel. What examples of love are present throughout? Look at the various relationships depicted within the story. Does any single definition or view of love seem to stand out from all the rest?


8. Ijeoma frequently recalls the folktales that were told to her as a child. What kinds of lessons do these folktales impart? What role do folktales play, then, in teaching concepts of “right” and “wrong” to children? What does this indicate about storytelling and the importance of literature?


9. How does Ijeoma react to the Bible lessons that she sits through with her mother? What does Ijeoma suggest about the Bible stories that her mother reads with her? What message or messages might this offer about allegory and the way that we read and interpret texts?


10. Evaluate the theme of faith in the novel. Consider Ijeoma’s relationship to God and religion. Is there ultimately a conflict between Ijeoma’s faith and her desires? What other examples of faith are presented in the book?


11. When Amina marries, Ijeoma feels that she has been betrayed. Are there other examples of betrayal found in the story? Do the characters regret these betrayals? Are their choices justifiable? Do they seek or find forgiveness?


12. Why does Ijeoma marry Chibundu? Evaluate the depiction of their marriage in the story. What role does marriage seem to play within the culture? Does this help us to better understand Ijeoma’s decision?


13. In Chapter 56, Ijeoma sits in church thinking about a baby who was born with a harelip a few months earlier. Why is she so taken by this? What does Ijeoma say that the fate of the baby reveals about the treatment of “anything outside the norm” (228)?


14. How does Chibundu treat his daughter? What do his feelings reveal about the treatment of women and gender roles in this culture? How does this compare to the treatment of women in other cultures? How does it compare to the treatment of women in your own country today? Does Chibundu ever change his behavior?


15. Why does Ijeoma ultimately leave Chibundu? How did Chibundu respond? And how did you respond as a reader? Where does Ijeoma ultimately end up? Do you consider this a happy ending?


16. Explore the motif of dreams in the story. In the Epilogue, Ijeoma says, “[i]n a life story full of dreams, there are even more dreams” (315). What does she mean by this? How important or meaningful are dreams to the characters who have them? What do the dreams reveal about the characters?


17. At the conclusion of the story, Ijeoma speaks of her fondness for Hebrews 8 and the importance of change and revision. Is there some way that necessary change and the passing down of traditions can be reconciled, or will the two always be at odds? Must traditions be discarded or eschewed for the greater benefit of society and its members?


18. What is Ijeoma’s understanding of God? Where do you see different interpretations of faith throughout the book, and what does that mean for the different characters and their relationships with each other? (hide spoiler)]

Louise, I'm planning to read and join the discussion, but over-committed on the front end of this month. I'm hoping to join at the end of next week. I've been wanting to read this book forever ....

Just checked last night to see what this group was reading this month, saw Under the Udala Trees, realized that it has been on my to-read Goodreads shelf for so long I'd forgotten it was there, checked the eBook out on my library app, and read half the book last night (magically my toddler cooperated by falling asleep immediately when I started reading).

In case anybody is waffling about whether to read this, I can say that at least the first half of this is amazing and really worth reading. I fell into this book so hard! This is the second time this has happened this year with a book selected by this group.

(view spoiler)[On question 18 - I wasn't raised with any knowledge of religion at all, but halfway through this book I'm already seeing the different ways religious texts and stories can sort of be used to mean different things. For instance, during the anti-gay Bible Study Ijeoma's mom drags her through, Ijeoma is a bit confused by where her mom is coming from and has a different (allegorical) interpretation of a lot of the stories her mom is using to try to scare her into not being "an abomination."

Ijeoma and Amina both go through this Christian anti-gay haranguing, but Ijeoma had a base of knowledge about Christianity which gave her a faith that Jesus had saved all people, even sinners, and that there is just a base of love underneath all the stories people use to threaten each other into "good" behavior. Amina was raised Muslim and didn't have that base of knowledge of love under the hateful Christianity she was taught, and she ended up becoming so afraid of herself and her relationship with Ijeoma that she tried to quash it. (hide spoiler)]

Anyway I am excited to read on, this book is so great! Great pick, everybody!

Clio wrote: "Just checked last night to see what this group was reading this month, saw Under the Udala Trees, realized that it has been on my to-read Goodreads shelf for so long I'd forgotten it was there, che..."

Your toddler is golden!

Carol wrote: "Louise, I'm planning to read and join the discussion, but over-committed on the front end of this month. I'm hoping to join at the end of next week. I've been wanting to read this book forever ...."

No worries, I've done exactly the same thing myself with other projects at the beginning of the month but really looking forward to reading this as soon as I've got through everything else.

Clio, I'm glad that you're enjoying it. It's another book that wouldn't have been on my radar either if not for this group.

I'm almost finished now. Really enjoyed it so far, but not sure how the author is going to be able to satisfactorily wrap things up in the aprox twenty pages I have left!

I actually ended up picking this up late into the month expecting I wouldn't be able to finish it. Then I proceeded to devour it in 3 days.

I really enjoyed this though I will note that in some ways the ending seemed rather rushed. I personally was satisfied, but I could definitely see how some people would not be.