Sunday, December 23, 2012

BOOK REVIEW - CHRISTIE WATSON'S "TINY SUNBIRDS FAR AWAY"

"There is nothing more powerful than a naked woman," Grandma said. "Nothing in the world."
(page 426)


This is a story of two siblings: Blessing and her elder brother, Ezekiel. Initially living in a happy family, they were forced to go back to their village with their mother after the father was caught having an affair with another woman. They had the shock of their lives with their new environment and the transition from a modern and hygienic lifestyle to a more basic ones was not easy. They learned to like what they had, and developed a better relationship with their grandparents. Mother then had to go to work, Ezekiel whose ambition was to become a doctor had to stop going to school and Blessing was trained to be a midwife's assistant for her grandmother. Things got more and more complicated for everybody, when the political conflicts of Nigeria had directly affected the people of the village. You have to read this novel if you want to find out whether the story will end in a happy note or not.

This is one novel I am thankful that I have bought and read. It reminds me of the novel I had to read when I was during matriculation entitled "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe, which was also set in Africa. There is one time when the character, grandma, was saying "sometimes, things fall apart" in the novel (page 417). One thing you can be assure of, once you start reading, there is no way for you to put this book down. If you want drama and comedy, love and tragedy, this is the one novel you must read.


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