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A review by aish_dols
The Son of the House by Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia
4.0
When do we think we can't take more and have reached our elastic limit? – The thing is, we always find a way to stretch and stretch until we shock our own selves and bring our our inner warrior to fight the coming battles life unwraps for us. The question now is, how far can we stretch?
A Sprinng Women Author Prize 2020 Book, The Son Of The House by Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia opens like this; there are two women, Julie & Nwabulu who have been kidnapped but decide to share their stories to each other to pass the time while the kidnappers wait to get their ransom from their family. However the women from different backgrounds have their stories matched by something so powerful as they tell it.// Set in Lagos and Enugu, this novel highlights issues we face in our society, like the unrealistic standards set for women and destructive stereotypes in families that tend to break a woman when it comes to 'capability tests' we have laid down for women. We tend to forget that women are human too and not just created for others to leverage on. There was the issue of power play sprung from gender bias and this marked the genesis of the turns this story took. // It read familiar. Like a story that might even happened sometime. I kept asking myself how much more Nwabulu could take. From being orphaned, rejected, maltreated, sexually abused and having to deal with loss. The beauty of this book is really in how she bounced back unscathed regardless of how everything was so structured against her. The highlight of the book however for me, is how her path crossed with Julie. It represents how mysterious and labyrinthine life is.// Did the end get to me? – Not really. I think the author wanted we, the readers, to form our own ending. I've mentally done that and trust me, positive vibes only.
A Sprinng Women Author Prize 2020 Book, The Son Of The House by Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia opens like this; there are two women, Julie & Nwabulu who have been kidnapped but decide to share their stories to each other to pass the time while the kidnappers wait to get their ransom from their family. However the women from different backgrounds have their stories matched by something so powerful as they tell it.// Set in Lagos and Enugu, this novel highlights issues we face in our society, like the unrealistic standards set for women and destructive stereotypes in families that tend to break a woman when it comes to 'capability tests' we have laid down for women. We tend to forget that women are human too and not just created for others to leverage on. There was the issue of power play sprung from gender bias and this marked the genesis of the turns this story took. // It read familiar. Like a story that might even happened sometime. I kept asking myself how much more Nwabulu could take. From being orphaned, rejected, maltreated, sexually abused and having to deal with loss. The beauty of this book is really in how she bounced back unscathed regardless of how everything was so structured against her. The highlight of the book however for me, is how her path crossed with Julie. It represents how mysterious and labyrinthine life is.// Did the end get to me? – Not really. I think the author wanted we, the readers, to form our own ending. I've mentally done that and trust me, positive vibes only.