Debut novel set in Nigeria celebrates resilience of women
Cheluchi OnyemelukweOnuobia’s debut novel The Son of the House is at times difficult to read as she tackles tough issues surrounding gender and social inequality, classism and abuse in a story that at its core celebrates friendship and the resilience of women.
The Son of the House (Dundurn Press) begins when two Nigerian women, Nwabulu and Julie, who have lived very different lives, are kidnapped and held hostage together. Forced to await their fate in an unpleasant room, the two women share their life stories – and the novel unfolds.
“We must do something to pass the time, I thought. Two women in a room, hands and feet tied,” the novel opens.
“… I looked at Nwabulu now. Our mouths were free so we could talk, and we needed to pass the time. “So tell me more about yourself,” I said, trying to encourage her.
I recently had the pleasure of connecting with Onyemelukwe-onuobia via email. Having earned her doctorate in law from Dalhousie University, she now works in Lagos for a non-profit, working in the areas of health and gender-based violence. While she spends most of her time in Lagos now, she and her family come to Halifax most summers. It was in 2011, while in Halifax when she started writing The Son of the House.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Q: Your novel was first published in South Africa in 2019 and published this year in Canada. In the book’s acknowledgements, you thank Dundurn Press for “bringing it home to Canada.” Having grown up in Enugu, Nigeria, where is home?
A: Canada is home, in every sense of the word. I had two of my kids in Canada. I have family in Canada and friends that are family. And I plan to move back more fully in a few years.
Q: It was your dream to write a novel from the time you were a child. Have you always been writing? Was the story percolating with you for years?
A: I have always wanted to write and have always written in some form or
another. I actually did a lot of writing while I did my doctorate. The stories of these women had been with me for years in different forms. These are people that I recognize, that I grew up with, with problems, challenges, dreams and hopes that I know intimately. So while the story itself came last, I would say that the characters had lived with me, in my head all along.
Q: In the novel, we see many examples of gender inequality and abuse. It is difficult to read at times but yet there is a sense of hope. Does that hope come from Julie and Nwabulu’s inner strength and resilience? Are you hopeful Nigerian society is changing positively?
A: From my point of view, I think resilience was and is somewhat of an essential fabric of our culture. I think both women have what most women I see around me have, a sense of wanting to continue, to chug on, to imagine, if not see, some light at the end of the tunnel. In terms of changing, it is hard to say. With deepening economic inequality, poor governance, urbanization in Nigeria, as in other countries, there are ongoing challenges that are not easy to dismiss.
Q: In the novel, Julie’s mother tells her that a woman must have children to be called a woman. Is this the prevalent view in Nigeria?
A: Children are prized in many cultures in Nigeria, and as I describe, very much so in Igbo culture. They are a continuation of life, a perpetuation of heritage, and a blessing. In fact, I have heard it said that there is no point to marriage within our culture without the goal of having children.
Although there are emerging divergent ideas, questioning the burdens on women and whether having a child should be a choice, spread more quickly through social media, this continues to be prevalent. While motherhood is a blessing in itself, should we define womanhood by this? I guess that’s one of the questions that I ponder in this book.
Q: How did you write from the perspective of two women who come from such different places and yet still bond and build a meaningful friendship? Nwabulu has been a housemaid since the age of 10, and Julie, is an educated, privileged modern woman. A: I took a little time in between writing the stories of each woman. These are women that I recognize well from growing up in the 80s and 90s and I still see them today. So, while I needed to clear my head between writing each woman, I saw them very clearly in my mind. In retrospect, in bringing them together, I was reflecting on the many similarities of women, the same struggles, similar triumphs, in the context of patriarchal cultures, even when we happen to come from different economic classes and birth circumstances.
ONE MORE DANCE
Wayne Forster’s latest novel, One More Dance (Newstream Publishing), is set in wartime Halifax and follows a young woman who is searching for meaning in her life. Josie leaves the fishing village where she grew up to find work in Halifax and to escape the boredom and predictability of her life in rural Nova Scotia. One night at a dance, she meets a British sailor. They spend a magical 24 hours together before he must set sail. He promises to write but after months pass and she hasn’t received a letter she is forced to make a decision: should she try to forget him, or should she follow her heart and find him?
HAPPYOLOGY: 8 SECRET STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
Halifax bodybuilder and holistic nutritionist Chris Johnson dedicates his new book to readers and their journey toward finding happiness. Happyology: 8 Secret Strategies for Success (Black Card Books) gathers the important elements of Johnson’s process of finding happiness. In 11 chapters, the book delivers the lessons Johnson learned and presents them to readers as easy-to-read, practical strategies. The strategies include everything from listening to your gut to good body hygiene to separating thoughts from emotions.
“The purpose of this book is to act as a guide. I believe everyone deserves to be happy and that everyone can be. The fact that you’re reading this means that you are searching for a way. And you’ve found it!” he writes. “Like anything worth doing, it will take practice.”
ABOARD PICTON CASTLE
Painter Helen Opie takes readers on a sailing trip on a three-masted tall ship in her book, Aboard Picton Castle: A Painter’s Journey (Moose House Publications).
In 2004, Opie made a round trip from Lunenburg to Massachusetts on the sailing barque that was built in 1928. With her paintbrush and watercolours, she captured both the routine and exciting moments on the voyage. The book’s close to 100 colour images create a visual record of what life was like for her aboard the sail training ship.