Ben Jackson
Well-known member
Upon discussing about Edmund White's work highlighting the gay experience in the Nobel Speculation Thread, I did remember a certain Nigerian Novel I wanted to notify that capture the female sexual experience.
This novel, a sort of bildungsroman which I read in 2018, was published in 2013 or 2014 (I am not really certain), narrates Ijeoma, the protagonist that's, romantic relationships and sexual awakening (first meeting a Amina, a Northerner who soon becomes her classmate, and then her marriage to her boyfriend she first met during teenage years, and finally Ndidi, a teacher she first met in the mid-70s and who, during Ijeoma's marriage, corresponded with Ijeoma) her marital breakdown and her psychological development. In as much as the novel's major theme is Ijeoma's sexual awakening, the novel touches on a nation recovering from it's wounds (the repercussions of the civil war coming to an end in 1970 that's), and its social and cultural development (the coming and the peak of Afrobeat by its creator Fela in the 70s for example). Ijeoma's growth, both experiential and psychic views on life, marriage and sexuality, serves as the consciousness to not only in highlighting the themes explored in the novel but also the changes occurring in the country.
The author's main goal, in an interview, was to capture the female experience (the sexual awakening of a woman that's), and to give voice to those facing sexual marginalization.
I don't know if we have lesbians on this board, but if one's looking for an African novel of this nature, the capture of "the experience" in line with Edmund White's works, which I haven't read unfortunately, I would recommend this one. This novel is like a shout out.
This novel, a sort of bildungsroman which I read in 2018, was published in 2013 or 2014 (I am not really certain), narrates Ijeoma, the protagonist that's, romantic relationships and sexual awakening (first meeting a Amina, a Northerner who soon becomes her classmate, and then her marriage to her boyfriend she first met during teenage years, and finally Ndidi, a teacher she first met in the mid-70s and who, during Ijeoma's marriage, corresponded with Ijeoma) her marital breakdown and her psychological development. In as much as the novel's major theme is Ijeoma's sexual awakening, the novel touches on a nation recovering from it's wounds (the repercussions of the civil war coming to an end in 1970 that's), and its social and cultural development (the coming and the peak of Afrobeat by its creator Fela in the 70s for example). Ijeoma's growth, both experiential and psychic views on life, marriage and sexuality, serves as the consciousness to not only in highlighting the themes explored in the novel but also the changes occurring in the country.
The author's main goal, in an interview, was to capture the female experience (the sexual awakening of a woman that's), and to give voice to those facing sexual marginalization.
I don't know if we have lesbians on this board, but if one's looking for an African novel of this nature, the capture of "the experience" in line with Edmund White's works, which I haven't read unfortunately, I would recommend this one. This novel is like a shout out.
