Efuru || Book Review

Marriage is like picking a parcel from numerous parcels. If you are lucky, you pick a valuable one. It does not depend at all on the length of the courtship.
~Flora Nwapa’s Efuru~ (P.96)

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Further in my journey of discovering or rediscovering in some cases works by Nigerian writers, I came across the book I’m about to review today. A huge smile lit up my face when I heard this book in passing. I’d read it in my second year of high school, which has been so long ago. In the time I had a hardcopy, I read it from beginning to end at least half a dozen times but I lost it in 2021. Reading the book now after so long gave me a fresh insight. Seeing things I didn’t exactly see when I read and understanding them has revived the book in my heart in such an amazing way.

I present to you,

Efuru by Flora Nwapa

_{Designed on Canva}

About The Book

This novel, published by Flora Nwapa in 1966 is the first novel by an African woman to be published in English. While Flora Nwapa is late and the book itself is more than fifty years old, it still strikes a significant cord to whoever reads it. It presents a channel to flow with the workings of the colonial Igbo dispensation. The book is predominantly feminist and highlights women in all their struggles and challenges.

Summary of The Plot

When Efuru, the beautiful, wise and above all generous daughter of Nwashike Ogene, a renowned warrior of noble heritage and prosperity, decides against the will of her father to marry Adizua, a nobody, it’s already a tell into the type of woman she is. Which does not look at the parentage of a person as a criterion for love.

Adizua on his own part is smitten with his wife and promptly after marrying her, refuses to work in the farm as he used to, but rather decides to join her in trade. He’s rather indolent but a love-struck Efuru, who coincidentally is a woman whose hands make money doesn’t see a fault in this and together they begin to blossom in prosperity by virtue of her hard work and skill.

Efuru finds it difficult to give birth but after the journey with her father to a renowned and reputable dibia and complying with his instructions, she gives birth a year later. It’s about this time that problems begin to ensue in the marriage. Adizua’s late nights and absence in the marriage. Soon after, he’s rumoured to have abandoned Efuru for a richer woman in another town. And even when tragedy strikes involving him and Efuru’s daughter, Ogonim, he still doesn’t return home, to the disgust amazement of all.

Efuru after a year of waiting for Adizua returns to her father’s house. She meets Gilbert, a man of better repute, who promises her a good life. And soon after, Efuru marries him. One would think her problems are over but her inability to have a child in the marriage coupled with the emergence of an ancestral rite, Efuru’s story may just be beginning.

My Favourite Character

Though I am in awe of everything Efuru represents, it would feel incomplete if I didn’t mention another character I was absolutely smitten by. She’s Ajanupu, the elder sister of Adizua’s mother. She’s short-tempered, and snarky, but extremely wise. She becomes Efuru’s friend and companion in all her hard times. She’s supportive and even when Efuru is no longer affiliated with her family, she embodies the true definition of friendship and camaraderie between women.

My Review and Rating

There are a few things I noticed that constitute the foreground for this review. First is the fact that most of the names, if not all are no longer common Igbo names. Igbo names are now mostly Christianized and English oriented so it was a refreshing experience seeing these rare but beautiful names.

Another thing that drew me in was the practices. Even though some of them are mostly barbaric like “taking a bath” which means female circumcision. A prerequisite for married women to have not just a child but a normal child. The fact that the market days are still prevalent like Eke market day and what is expected of people in each of those four market days.

But most of all, the undoubted empathy for Igbo women struck me. The book showcases the struggles a woman faces in fulfilling her roles as a daughter, a wife and a mother. It showcases the theme of obstinacy, which symbolises how headstrong women could be when it comes to the men they love, thoroughly overlooking the rather obvious red flags and how much the joy of motherhood and hard work as a woman is necessary.

There are a lot of things one could learn about this beautiful book. The clash of the traditional and Western cultures and how rationality and wisdom are necessary when making major decisions in one’s life. It’s a refreshing book and I’m immensely glad that I came across it again. I would give it a solid 8 and recommend it to whoever seeks to understand the colonial Igbo dispensation and the amazing women, albeit fictional, in those times.

Jhymi🖤

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