joys of motherhood

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Features, Reviews June 17, 2016

The River and Femininity in Nigerian Literature | Review of Adeniyi’s On the Bank of the River | By Emilia J. Bryce

In On the Bank of the River, Ifeoluwapo Adeniyi uses the experience of childhood to articulate important ideas about parenting, girl-child education, rural-urban encounters, and intergenerational tensions in Nigeria. The protagonist of the novel, Enitan, realizes that the constant sorrow that has become her mother’s personality is a product of a failed love affair, which […]

Dear Ms. Paper: Save Me From This Boring African Novel

Dear Ms. Paper: Roughly two months ago, I decided to expand my cultural horizon. I curbed my obsession with Nollywood movies and thought I’d try reading African novels instead. A bookworm friend gave me a list of 6 novels. They all sounded the same to me, meaning boring and tiresome, so I decided to pick the […]

Chasing Elusive Joy: The Trials and Tribulations of Good Women by Yejide Kilanko

At 13, my days were divided between time away at a girls boarding school in Onitsha and holidays at home in Ibadan, Nigeria. I remember the year as an awkward one. We (my friends and I) were dealing with the physical and emotional rollercoaster of puberty while armed with the newly found knowledge that “boys […]

Sex in African Novels Pt. 1: “Please, Ona, Don’t Wake the Whole Household.”

The excerpt you about to read is from Buchi Emecheta’s 1980 novel Joys of Motherhood. It’s the debut post in a new Brittle Paper series called “Sex in African Novels.” Enjoy! Agbadi had slept so much in the day that, now he was feeling better, he was finding it difficult to sleep the night through. He must […]