Under the Udala Trees - Chinelo Okparanta

I read this book about a year ago and would definitely read it again! This is a simply beautiful and moving novel, which I could not put down. With the landscape of the Nigerian civil war, it follows the coming-of-age of the protagonist Ijeoma, a Christian Igbo, and her journey of sexual discovery with Muslim Hausa Amina. The novel balances the themes of war and romance and is extremely moving with an important underlying message about acceptance. 

Set during the Biafran conflict, the once affluent and prosperous life of Ijeoma and her family comes crashing down around them and the horror of finding her dead father leaves young Ijeoma psychologically damaged and her life in a state of suspension. Following the death of her father, Ijeoma and her mother descend into a life of poverty during which they almost starve, so Ijeoma is sent to work as a housegirl and her mother's whereabouts are unknown. It is here that she meets Amina and their passion ignites. During 1968 when the novel is set, there is definitely no place in society for a relationship between two girls from two different ethnic communities in Nigeria. The solace she finds in her passion with Amina is destined for tragedy and it is clear that she will begin a life in which she hides this part of herself. 

This bildungsroman highlights the struggle of coming to terms with who you are, in a world full of hatred and violence. The cyclical novel begins with a ravaged and war-torn landscape in which corpses line the streets and buildings are destroyed by bombs, and ends in a similar way as the streets of 2014 Nigeria are still plagued with violence. Yet this violence is fuelled by hatred for same-sex couples following the criminalisation and persecution of gay people. Despite the upsetting themes of the novel, I learned a lot about contemporary Nigeria and the attitudes which sadly still stand there, including the prejudice and lack of compassion towards homosexual couples. A beautifully written story with a powerful and poignant message.