Clear by Carys Davies immediately drew me in. The story takes place in 1843 and revolves around three main characters: good-hearted, somewhat bumbling Scottish Free Church minister John Ferguson; his steady, astute wife Mary; and Ivar, the last remaining occupant of a remote Scottish island, and custodian of a dying language. Davies skilfully weaves her story around these colliding worlds, with the island and its protean microclimate adding to the drama. The devastating impact of the Highland Clearances also hovers in the background. A short novel, which I reread as soon as I’d finished it, to really savour and appreciate it. I picked up this book from Diss Station Book Exchange, quite a find!
Buchi Emecheta’s The Joys of Motherhood had been in my ‘to read’ pile by the bed for a while, and I’m so glad to have finally read it.
Set in Nigeria, the novel recounts the life of Nnu Ego, from her childhood in an Ibo village, early arranged marriage, and subsequent life in Lagos. We follow the ups and downs of her changing fortunes, alongside Nigeria’s transition from British colony to post Second World War independence.
She suffers many setbacks and challenges; carrying the stigma of childlessness in her first marriage (it’s assumed to be the woman’s fault); the sudden loss of her first child in her second marriage, before eventually bearing nine children.
Although Nnu Ego never learns to read and write, she’s resourceful and resilient; the main breadwinner, especially when her husband is press-ganged into the navy during the Second World War.
First published in 1979 by Alison & Busby, the Penguin Classics edition is graced with a gorgeous drawing by Chris Ofili: Rootsy (for Buchi Emecheta). I can also highly recommend Emecheta’s first novel In the Ditch, which I read a couple of years ago. It draws in part on her experiences as a single mother in London, after emigrating from Nigeria.
Hilaire 