One of the greatest Nigerian authors of all time, Buchi Emecheta, sadly passed on yesterday, 25th January, 2017, at the age of 72.
In loving memory of her, here are some of our favourite books amongst the many great books written by her.
1. The Joys of Motherhood
The Joys of Motherhood tells the story of a woman, Nnu Ego, who struggles with barrenness, marriage, re-marriage and eventually the troubles of raising nine children.
After dedicating most of her life to raising all her offsprings, she doesn’t enjoy the joys that they say come with motherhood and eventually dies a lonely death.
The book remains one of Emecheta’s best books yet and is still read by Secondary students all over the country as part of their curriculum.
2. Second-Class Citizen
Second-Class Citizen revolves around the life of a young wife, Adah, who struggles to survive in a European country amidst racial discrimination and an abusive marriage.
The book centers on a strong-willed woman’s ability to fight and survive despite all the odds.
3. The Slave Girl
Like most of Emecheta’s books, The Slave Girl tells the story of a young African woman who once lived happily until an illness struck and took away most of her family, leaving her an orphan.
Eventually, her brother sells her into slavery where she is met first with hard labour and later a life of luxury when the son of her mistress falls in love with her.
4. The Bride Price
The Bride Price starts with an Igbo family living in Lagos who had to move back to the village after the head of the home dies. Eventually, Aku-nna, the teenage daughter of the family who is also the book’s protagonist, has to deal with the struggle of living with the man she loves despite her step-father’s rejection of his family’s bride price.
Eventually, she dies during childbirth, sealing the village’s belief that a woman whose bride price hadn’t been paid would meet death while in labour. However, the actual cause of her death was malnutrition and being too underdeveloped to carry a child.
5. Kehinde
Kehinde follows the life of a woman with the same name who is forced to move back to Nigeria by her domineering husband. Here, she faces the patriarchal attitude of Nigerian men, which her son eventually adopts, causing constant quarrels between them both after her husband leaves her for another woman.
As with most of Emecheta’s books, in Kehinde a young woman struggles in a male-dominated world and tries to take her stand as being strong and independent.
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