{"id":6524,"date":"2016-02-12T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2016-02-12T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=6524"},"modified":"2020-05-03T18:28:23","modified_gmt":"2020-05-03T22:28:23","slug":"under-the-udala-trees-by-chinelo-okparanta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=6524","title":{"rendered":"Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\"\"Publisher\/Date:<\/strong>\u00a0 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Sept. 2015
\nGenre(s):<\/strong>\u00a0 Romance, Coming of Age
\nPages:<\/strong>\u00a0 336
\nWebsite:<\/strong>\u00a0 http:\/\/www.chinelookparanta.com<\/p>\n

Rating:<\/strong> \"★\"\"★\"\"★\"\"★\"\"★\" <\/p><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/b>I love coming-of-age stories. The transition one makes from child to adulthood is an evolution I watch with fascination. Ijeoma\u2019s growing up is especially captivating because the 11-year-old lives with the threat of falling bombs, food rations and army takeovers during the Nigerian Civil War in UNDER THE UDALA TREES<\/em><\/strong> by Chinelo Okparanta (author of Happiness Like Water<\/em><\/a>).<\/p>\n

Set in the town of Ojoto, the time is 1968, and the juxtaposition of her typical experiences of a girl her age \u2013 attending school and watching the boys play Policeman \u2013 contrasts sharply with worries of her father, a drafter obsessed with any report about Biafra\u2019s attempt to defeat the government. Ijeoma sees him poring over newspapers that line his study or listening to his radio-gramophone, and prays for an end to the conflict so that her father, as well everyone around them, can return to normal life.<\/p>\n

A subsequent attack leaves Ijeoma fatherless, and fearing her daughter\u2019s safety and well-being, her mother sends her to be a housegirl to a grammar school teacher and his wife in neighboring Nnewi. An adjacent hovel with only a table and mattress \u2013 no bathroom or running water \u2013 becomes her new home, and Ijeoma has to contend with her new surroundings as well as her mother\u2019s abandonment to prepare them a new life.<\/p>\n

Working for the childless couple proves mindless, until she meets Amina, a girl about her age whom she discovers has no family, and luckily, convinces her caretakers they could use an extra pair of hands with chores. They share Ijeoma\u2019s small confines, but it\u2019s where their attraction begins to blossom. Ijeoma and Amina come from different tribes \u2013 Ijeoma is Igbo, Amina is Hausa \u2013 but they shyly explore the other under the moonlight and stars while taking nighttime baths. Both without family, both working to earn their keep, the girls begin a love affair that sustains them and blinds them to the danger of being found out \u2013 until they are found out \u2013 and then Ijeoma returns to the care of her mother.<\/p>\n

This is where Udala finds its footing. Ijeoma becomes bombarded with the decisions of whether being gay is God\u2019s will or an abomination as her as her mother emphasizes with daily Bible studies and incessant scripture quoting. Her questioning of God\u2019s word leads her to believe that the world is not as black and white as the pages of her Bible, but her mother sees her daughter\u2019s life only in terms of being married and having children. Ijeoma is reluctant to take this path, but it seems the only way out in a country where being gay can be a destructive decision to make.<\/p>\n

Under the Udala Trees<\/em> is a lot of things: a coming-of-age tale, an exploration of Nigerian folklore, an examination of religious doctrine. But quite simply, at its heart, Trees<\/em> is a bittersweet love story written incredibly well by Okparanta. While the religious overtones can sometimes bog down the story, it leads to Ijeoma becoming introspective about what God sincerely wants. I found the story, despite its somber nature, to be hopeful with every page toward the novel\u2019s end. I can\u2019t put my finger on it, but there\u2019s something about Trees that makes me feel as if Ijeoma finds her happy ending.<\/p>\n

Reviewed February 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

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