18-year-old Patience, the eldest daughter of Chief Kolade Adewale needs to reunite with her estranged mother in America. In her father’s mansion in Ibadan, Patience feels out of place with her distant father, stepmother Modupe and stepsister Margaret. Patience lives in her head with questions on replay in her mind “Why did her father and uncle sack her mother from their compound years ago and is her mother alive?”. Her father enrolls her in UNILAG to study accounting, however, determined to find out the truth about her mother and study Fashion Design, Patience leaves school and follows her cousin Kash to trick and dupe people in Lagos to raise funds to travel to America. Set against the backdrop of Nigeria’s political turmoil of the 1990s, the author unfolds a suspense-filled story of a young woman’s journey and the risks and sacrifices she makes.
I think Abi Ishola-Ayodeji did a beautiful job unfolding Patience’s character. Patience is young and gullible - everything but what her name means – Patient. The author brings to the centre stage the difficulty young people in Nigeria faced in the 1990s. Unemployment is the biggest issue and survival is key. Chike, after completing his degree in Engineering ends up jobless, riding an Okada to make ends meet. Then there is Kash whose father died, and he failed to complete school, so he ends up as a petty thief with his friend Emeka (Chike’s brother). Last but not least is Mayowa – a man who is hopeful for a better Nigeria. He joins the Abiola Campaign with the hope that democracy will save Nigeria. Abi-Ishola-Ayodeji did a wonderful job describing the desperate circumstances of our 419 gang. What do you do when the country doesn’t want you to succeed, and the system is designed to make you fail? You take the situation into your own hands.
Things I loved about the book:
The book describes the mess and messy life of people living in Lagos. The author did not massage the hard life. In a country like Nigeria, where wealth is shared unequally, people must take risks and make sacrifices.
Another thing I loved in the novel is the Stepsister relationship, Patience and Margaret. They were both tender with each other and I appreciate the portrayal of the affection between step-siblings.
She’s my sister, not my half sister…She’s been the consistent person in my life
The writing is simple, easy, and very Nigerian. It has a bit of Nigerian Pidgin and Igbo phrases. Patience’s need to wear her American accent annoyed me slightly but I understand, she was born and raised in the US and moved to Nigeria at age 8.
The suspense in the plot structure is amazing. I kept reading because I wanted to find out what happened to Patience’s mother, why she didn't come back and if she is alive. These are questions that kept me turning the pages of the book.
Things that did not work: The author could have explored the political situation a lot more or taken it out entirely. I honestly feel that the whole political backdrop and Mayowa’s character felt like a piece of a puzzle that doesn’t quite fit. I did not feel the impact of military rule on the citizens until the last four chapters. I also wanted to see the issue of The Other Family fully developed. Chief Kolade Aadewale had another family while he was still married to Patience’s mother. Patience and Margaret have a one- or two-year age gap. You can’t just scratch the surface of such a theme.
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