Stephanie Jane reviewed Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta
A powerful, and ultimately hopeful, novel
4 stars
Under The Udala Trees is set in Nigeria and opens at the beginning of the Biafran War when Ijeoma is a young girl in a comfortably off middle class household. After her father, Uzo, is killed in a bombing raid, her family status crashes and her grieving mother, Adaora, sends Ijeoma to live as a housegirl in a neighbouring town. Alone and isolated, Ijeoma makes friends with an orphan, Amina, and begins to learn about the restrictive conservative lifestyle insisted upon within her country. It is seen as almost unthinkable that an Igbo girl could be friends with a Hausa girl. When their friendship deepens into love and they are discovered, the two are swiftly torn apart.
Ijeoma's mother has embraced fervent religion as a way to cope with her grief. Her insistence on homosexuality being 'an abomination' leads to one of the most interesting sections of Under The Udala …
Under The Udala Trees is set in Nigeria and opens at the beginning of the Biafran War when Ijeoma is a young girl in a comfortably off middle class household. After her father, Uzo, is killed in a bombing raid, her family status crashes and her grieving mother, Adaora, sends Ijeoma to live as a housegirl in a neighbouring town. Alone and isolated, Ijeoma makes friends with an orphan, Amina, and begins to learn about the restrictive conservative lifestyle insisted upon within her country. It is seen as almost unthinkable that an Igbo girl could be friends with a Hausa girl. When their friendship deepens into love and they are discovered, the two are swiftly torn apart.
Ijeoma's mother has embraced fervent religion as a way to cope with her grief. Her insistence on homosexuality being 'an abomination' leads to one of the most interesting sections of Under The Udala Trees as Ijeoma reviews and interprets relevant Bible passages for herself. Her confusion and despair are movingly portrayed. Bullied into submission and eventually coerced into a traditional marriage, we see through her eyes the dangerous life lesbian and gay people are forced to endure in such a repressive society, as well as the innate chauvinism to which even her once-open-minded husband stoops when their child is Not A Boy. I was reminded often of events in A Thousand Splendid Suns as the same closed mindsets prevail even though the religions differ.
The novel is delicately enough written to be suitable for a new adult or even young adult readership. Ultimately it does strike a hopeful note despite the current draconian laws against homosexuality in Nigeria.