Other Press has published this week. I got my copy from Net Galley for review (thanks to you both). It's coming out in paperback, check with your local bookstore for a copy.
This is the story of a family in Nigeria. The main characters are the boy and girl of the family. When the children and their mother arrive home unexpectedly, they catch their father with another woman. The mother was physically abused by the father, but stayed with him. This was too much. And when father leaves, they can no longer afford to live where they do or go to school at the private schools.
When the mother takes them home, they have more than just a change of environment to adjust to. Her family lives in extreme poverty, which is the norm for most Nigerians. The author drives home the difference between what the whites have (all the oil) and what the blacks have (a few pennies a day if they are lucky).
As always, in times of extreme poverty, there is ugliness and unrest. Blessing's family is no different. But they have a undying spirit that keeps them going.
The one factor in this book that will stick me for the rest of my life is genital mutilation. I'd heard of it and read articles about it, but this author introduces you to the families that do it and gives you an explanation about the different types of mutilation that are horrifying and can end young women's lives when they become pregnant.
Ms. Watson provides this information because it still exists in Nigeria, it's not for scare tactics or to impress you. But it sure made an impression on me. Ms. Watson has a Nigerian Muslim partner, so she knows her subject.
I read this to learn about life in other countries. What I found out made me uncomfortable, but smarter about world problems. Maybe you should read this book, too. It will shake your comfortable world up.
Happy reading!
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