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A review by laz92
Girl by Edna O'Brien
3.0
The book reads as a powerful narrative because, factually, the events are horrendous. But I lost interest the more it went on; it felt empty to me because the author is neither Nigerian nor someone closely associated with the Boko Haram situation (a victim/aid worker/family member), and in my opinion does not have the right or the authority to write as though she was.
I agree with the reviews that this should have been a piece of longform non-fiction. Regardless of how well O'Brien did her homework, I don't think there's any number of former victims she could speak to that would justify her writing from the perspective of one of these women. How can a white Irish woman possibly understand that cultural divide and accurately portray the feeling and stigma in a first person fictitious narrative, when the culture is not her own? And surely there are Nigerian authors with their own stories to tell about these terrible events that could have been platformed instead/alongside a non fiction piece. The book felt very derivative and hollow in my opinion.
I agree with the reviews that this should have been a piece of longform non-fiction. Regardless of how well O'Brien did her homework, I don't think there's any number of former victims she could speak to that would justify her writing from the perspective of one of these women. How can a white Irish woman possibly understand that cultural divide and accurately portray the feeling and stigma in a first person fictitious narrative, when the culture is not her own? And surely there are Nigerian authors with their own stories to tell about these terrible events that could have been platformed instead/alongside a non fiction piece. The book felt very derivative and hollow in my opinion.