Sent away to be a housegirl following her father’s death, Ijeoma finds solace in friendship with Amina, another young girl who has been similarly displaced by the Biafran conflict raging around them. With childish innocence they begin a sexual relationship, but when they are discovered Ijeoma’s mother brings her Old Testament faith to bear on returning her daughter to the fold. Marriage and motherhood follow, until Ijeoma finally finds the courage to reject the role prescribed for her by society.
Chinelo Okparanta’s debut novel eloquently advocates resisting the narratives handed down by previous generations, and the unadorned eroticism of Ijeoma’s relationships with other women is a powerful rebuke to the religious doctrine that condemns them as an “abomination”. Okparanta takes comfort in the seemingly endless capacity for people and the world to change, but her postscript is poignant: in 2014, Nigeria criminalised the very relationships she portrays with such thoughtfulness and integrity.
Under the Udala Trees is published by Granta (£12.99). Click here to order it for £10.39
