Tomorrow I Become A Woman By Aiwanose Odafen || Book Review.

A couple of days ago, I was looking for a book to read then I decided to go through my reading list and recommendations from friends. So I came across this book written by a Nigerian author, ’Tomorrow I Become A Woman’. This book was recommended to me about a year ago by my very good friend and I almost forgot about it. No, I actually forgot about the book.

It's been about two years since I'd read books from a Nigerian author. I'd buried my head in foreign books and work. So, I will just say, this book reminded me of what I have been missing from our Nigeria authors and I will do better from now on.

’Tomorrow I Become A Woman’ written by Aiwanose Odafen is a book that has about four genres incorporated in the story. It is historical, psychological, coming-of-age and bildungsroman fiction. Having these genres all together in a story created a masterpiece. This book was published on 25th April 2022 with 416 pages.

The plot of this book centers around Obianuju, who is a young woman whose life has been mold according to societal patriarchy and her journey in life right from her university days to when she comes of age for marriage. Her relationship with her mother is a relationship that is filled with abuse, be it psychological, emotional, mental and physical. She is the daughter her mother never wanted.

It is time for her to get married, which in terms means she is ripe for marriage, Obianuju meets Gozie. A man who is handsome, charismatic, a Christian and most importantly, an Igbo man. Also, Obianuju is fond of a young man Akin who is a Yoruba by tribe and doesn't have the rest of Gozie’s characteristics. She knew that she had to choose Gozie as he is the perfect and right man for her in the eyes of her but Akin was not. Wanting her mother's approval, she got married to Gozie but unfortunately, she never knew that she had just tied the knots with an abusive man. Will Obianuju come out of this alive?

My Review And Rating.

I think this book has made its readers express themselves in so many ways when they talk about the it. Why is this? Because the story of this book brings back memories and it is very relatable regardless of the fact it is fiction.

’Tomorrow I Become A Woman’ was set in Lagos, Nigeria during the 70s to 80s when Nigeria was at war (Biafra/Civil war). It portrays well how Nigeria is a patriarchal country and women continue to suffer as a result of this practice. Though it is a fictional story, it is indeed the reality of a lot of women in Nigeria. It is a normal thing in Nigeria that a mother will go through abuse in marriage, let her own daughter go through the same and then teach her daughter that it is tradition. It is normal.

I love how Odafen wrote this book from three different perspectives (yesterday, today and tomorrow). She brought to life, familiar places Nigeria with just words. Her character was built genuinely with I think first-hand experience. All characters were all very relatable and well developed. The story itself was very engaging and intriguing right from the start to the end eliciting all kinds of intense emotions from the readers.

One of the things that I was happy Odafen depicted was how culture and societal expectations play a role in keeping women in abusive marriages especially in our African society (Nigeria). Women don't have a say and they are mostly seen as slaves and baby making machines. To think that with the modern, things will change, no it doesn't, the flow of such abuse continues.

Also, Odafen portrayed some sensitive themes, like marriage, gender expectations, gender inequality, Nigerian culture, and patriarchal norms. All these themes were depicted well with very realistic scenes and instances. I say these themes are emotional and sensitive because I was full of rage, frustrated, disappointed and sad while I read this book.

Do I like this book? Yes, I did. This book depicts the reality of most Nigerian women, it depicts how the societal patriarchy has suppress Nigerian women into all forms of abuse in the name of tradition and culture, it depicts how children are being traumatized by their parents, and it depicts how the female gender is seen as assets and commodity to toyed with however the male gender wishes.

Would I recommend this book? Of course. I encourage you to read this book if you haven't.

Rating this book, I will give it a good solid 4.8 out of 5 stars.

All images above are from my E-library

Header images compiled in Canva.

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