Finally moving away from course books, I took this book that I got for my birthday on holiday to Paris with me and finished it within two days. It follows the story of Kambili, a fifteen year old girl living in Nigeria. Her family are wealthy due to her father's business, and she attends a private school. However, despite her material gains, she has very few friends, and her father's strong religious views (he is a well respected Catholic oblate) mean she lives in fear and repression.
As the book progresses, the reader begins to see the lengths that Kambili's father will go to to maintain respect and order, to the extent that he beats his wife Beatrice frequently, eventually making her lose a baby. He has strict timetables for Kambili and her brother Jaja, detailing what they have to do at every minute of the day, from homework and eating, to praying and attending church. He accepts nothing but the best, so when Kambili comes second in her class, she is 'punished'.
However, a military coup in the village where they live forces the children to be evacuated to their Aunty Ifeoma's house, where their cousins are happy and enjoy a freedom that Jaja and Kambili do not understand. Their aunt is described beautifully:
'When she barged into the dining room upstairs, I imagined a proud ancient forebear, walking miles to fetch water in homemade clay pots, nursing babies until they walked and talked, fighting wars with machetes sharpened on sun-warmed stone. She filled a room.'
It is eventually due to her that the family begin to stick up for themselves, until finally Beatrice poisons her husband, and he is found dead in his office.
I found this book not only enthralling, but also very informative about the situations that occur in parts of Africa, as it is an area I know very little about. It is written in such a way that sometimes you can empathise with Eugene (Kambili's father) despite the atrocious things that he does, which I found to be an interesting aspect of the novel. It also contains some gorgeous language, showing the impressive intelligence that Kambili possesses, and it is inspiring to see her determination and courage, despite her being in such a horrible situation. An example of such language is:
'Because the tarred roads spring potholes like surprise presents and the air smells of hills and history and the sunlight scatters the sand and turns it into gold dust. Because Nsukka could free something deep inside your belly that would rise up to your throat and come out as a freedom song. As laughter.'
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to broaden their intellectual horizons, and who wants a story that is both dramatic and horrifically sad at the same time.
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