I've traveled to quite a few places in my lifetime, but there are two continents that I haven't yet been. One is South America, the other is Africa. I've never felt that I understood Africa. It has always seemed somehow unreachable to me, a place that is too far removed from anything that I've ever experienced. But when I read The Son of the House, that totally changed. From the very first pages, Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia's powerful writing pulled me into her characters' lives where I not only learned about Nigerian culture, I also felt the strength of the female spirit in a brand new way.
The Son of the House is set in both the relative present (2011) and the past (1972-1973). The book opens on the kidnapping of two women - Julie, who is wealthy and privileged, and Nwabulu, who started with nothing and has worked her way to success as a shop owner and skilled tailor. Through their confinement, the two women begin to tell each other their stories. On the surface, they seem nothing like one another - their pasts so fundamentally different that they would never find connection. But as the story proceeds, readers are given glimpses into the ways in which their lives have become linked within a male-dominated culture.
As with many books I connect with, The Son of the House speaks to me because it so intimately tells the story of women. Although the Nigerian culture is unlike anything from my experience, Onyemelukwe-Onuobia beautifully weaves in the complex parts of womanhood that transcend culture, and I found myself deeply connected to both characters. This novel deals with everything from class issues to gender and motherhood, and it does so in a way that makes the characters come alive on the page. This is one of those books that I read in two or three sittings, ignoring a lot of other obligations in the meantime!
If you have thoughts to share on this book or have your own recommendations, please comment below!
© 2022 Shirley Hay