Ties That Tether

Finished February 25

Ties that Tether by Jane Igharo

Azere Izoduwa is a creative director at an advertising agency in Toronto. She, her mother, and her younger sister Efe immigrated to Canada from Nigeria when she was twelve, after her father's death. They were sponsored by her father's brother, a widower with a son slightly older than her, Jacob. Before her father died, he insisted that she promise him that she would marry a man from the same tribe, Ebo, to stay true to her culture. Azere's mother keeps setting her up with eligible Ebo men, but nothing has clicked for Azere. As the book starts, she has been on yet another dinner date, and this one has definitely not gone well. When she walks out of the restaurant, a high end on in a luxury hotel, she decides that she could use a drink, and she stops at the bar. She starts a conversation with a man there, and finds herself drawn to him in a very strong way. 

Rafael Castellano is a Toronto native who has been living in New York City and is back in town for an interview. When he sees Azere and begins to talk to her, he too finds himself inexplicably drawn to her. In the heated moment, they both give in to their impulses and the two end up in Rafael's hotel room. 

A month later Azere finds herself meeting her one-night stand again, only this time as her co-worker. As the two maneuver this unexpected situation, Azere finds herself pulled between her promise to her father and her strong feelings for this man. 

I liked the way the book moved back and forth between the two main characters in voice. We could see the secrets that each was keeping from each other, secrets that drew them together, and secrets that pushed them apart. They both come from cultures that I am not that familiar with. Azere is very active in the Nigerian Canadian community, and her culture is a strong part of her identity. She eats Nigerian food, watches Nigerian movies, and listens to Nigerian music. She has been a compliant daughter, and still performs regular tasks for her mother, like mowing the lawn. 

Rafael spent his childhood summers with his grandmother in Spain, and his family still spends regular time there. As the story begins, the rest of the family is in Spain for an extended holiday. 

As the two spend time together both at work and in their personal lives, they both must make difficult decisions, and deal with a situation that brings them even closer. 

This was a different romance for me, with the additional of the cultural elements and the larger than life character of Azere's mother playing a big part in the story. Enlightening and entertaining. 

My Sister, The Serial Killer

Finished January 1
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

The author and setting of this novel are Nigerian. As the book opens Korede has been called by her younger sister Ayoola to the apartment of her boyfriend, Fedi. Ayoola has called her to help get rid of the evidence that she has killed Fedi. As we soon learn, this isn't the first man that Ayoola has killed, nor the first time that Korede has helped protect her sister by concealing evidence.
Korede is a well-regarded nurse in a local hospital. Ayoola designs and sells clothing. Both women still live at home with their mother. Their father was a strong disciplinarian that both girls feared rather than loved. Ayoola is a very beautiful woman, who always has men interested in her. Korede is much plainer, but she has her own dreams too. Korede feels both angry and frightened that she has been caught up in the crimes of her sister, but can't see a way out.
One of the hospital patients is in a coma, and Korede often sits in his room, and tells him what she can tell no one else. But when her sister intrudes on her work world, Korede feels even more torn than she did before.
This is a fascinating look inside a woman who has been trained from the beginning to be her sister's keeper. Her sister someone she both loves and hates, but she must decide whether that love will always guide her, or not.

Being Lara

Finished November 3
Being Lara by Lola Jaye

I picked up this novel because my sister's name is Lara, and I was intrigued by the character being a black girl adopted by white parents, which is also my sister's situation. But the rest of the book and the character differed widely from my personal experiences.
Lara's mother grew up in a council house in Britain, the youngest in the family, and a shy girl who loved to sing. She met a man who encouraged her singing, and who thought the world of her. She had a short but successful career, and, was involved in a charity for African orphans. It is on a visit to the orphanage in Africa that she first sees the young child Omolara, and is smitten by her.
We also see the situation of Omolara's birth mother and why she chooses to give her up. All this is background. As the book opens, Lara is turning 30, and her birth mother has appeared unexpectedly. She isn't sure how to react, and this book follows through her reactions, those of her friends and boyfriend, and of her adoptive parents.
There is uncertainty, curiosity, anger, resentment, and other emotions that show up in the various characters, and it is by working her way through these that the adult Lara figures out who she is. A coming of age story, with a bit of a twist.

Things Fall Apart

Finished August 20
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, read by Peter Francis James

This classic is one I have long meant to read, and so when I was looking for an audiobook last week, this caught my eye.
Originally published in 1958, this work portrays the life of an Igbo Nigerian village before contact with white men. We see the social structure, the annual cycle, the food grown, prepared and eaten, the religious ceremonies, and the way families interacted. The story centers around a warrior Okonkwo, a man who is self-made, working hard to overcome his lack of support from his father, supporting not only himself and the family he built, but also his parents and his sisters. He wants sons that will carry on in the same way that he has, but finds that his child that he connects the most strongly with is one of his daughters. We see the effect on the family when children don't thrive, and the superstitions that this tribe has around twins, around what their gods expect of them, and around the crop cycle that their lives are built around.
When an accidental death occurs, we see how the one who killed his clansman is punished, and how he makes amends for this sad event. There are rules that these people live by, a system of responsibility, and of community that guides their lives and a system of justice that ensures that people treat each other with appropriate respect.
And then, sadly, we see what happens when first the Christian missionaries come, and then the British colonizing government, those who come to "civilize" these people who already have their own civilization. The British seldom take the time to study and consider how things work in this community before imposing their own values and rules on people who don't understand and who are threatened by this immense change to their culture. The lack of respect these people show to the Africans made me feel angry as well as sad, and the arrogance was horrible to hear of. There are some good men, like the first Christian pastor who takes the time to ask questions about why people do what they do and has real conversations with the elders about their religion and customs. But the one who replaces him is not one who embodies true Christian values, and the way he and the District Commissioner talk as opposed to how they treat the people is almost horrifying.
This is sad reveal of the horrible things down in the name of religion and civilization, a sad story of history that is not that long past.

A rush to finish one of these

Finished March 13
GraceLand by Chris Abani
Set in Nigeria this story of Elvis Oke jumps back and forth from his life in Lagos in 1983 and his life in a small village in the 1970s and early 1980s. Elvis got his name from his mother's favourite singer. His mother, Beatrice, died when he was a child and he was raised by his father, Sunday and grandmother, Oye. He was also close to his aunt Felicia. After an upset in a local election, his father moved with him to Lagos, where they lived in a ghetto. Elvis has dropped out of school and tried to earn a living by dancing. He is deeply unhappy and carries his mother's journal with him everywhere, reading it to console himself. He makes some friends, not all of whom, it would seem, have his best interests at heart. He gives to those more impoverished than himself and tries to do the right thing. This is a difficult story of a young man living in a military dictatorship and who doesn't really understand "the system".
The author is also from Nigeria and published his first novel when he was 16, a move that resulted in political persecution. He went into exile in 1991.

Finished March 12
Dieting Causes Brain Damage: How to Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mind
by Bradley Trevor Greive
This photobook offers animal pictures with captions to encourage the reader to move toward weight loss. The pictures are gorgeous and the words helpful. I really enjoyed it as a light and uplifting read. I especially like the picture about how women are led to think they should look like alien-headed supermodels. Priceless.