“Egg-Larva-Pupa-Woman is about the metamorphosis of a young girl into a woman of courage, juxtaposed with the evolution of the country she loves but doesn’t understand…”
“This book isn’t content with just being a love story, or a story about the relationships women have throughout their lives. It is an amazing read on a culture and world many will never experience. Beautifully written and full of detail and mystery…”
The story kicks off in the early 1950s when two orphan sisters are separated against their wish because their aunt cannot afford to feed two mouths. The first sister is weak and wilts away but the second, Nkiru, digs deep and keeps on walking.
In the wake of her country’s independence from British rule, Nkiru meets an aspiring diplomat with radical political views and hopes that love will put her life back on course. However, love only complicates things. Her new husband asks for more than she knows how to give and the past is filled with shameful secrets that threaten to erupt.
The plot thickens as Nkiru climbs the ladder of life, fearing the sudden loss of all that she has toiled for (her children’s love, her husband’s trust and the successful business she built out of nothing) all because of a single fatal mistake. At the same time, Nigeria descends further into conflict and corruption as a single foundational flaw leads to a brutal war and lingering mistrust.
Eventually Nkiru finds the courage to confront the past and seek forgiveness for an unpardonable sin. This is the only path to peace – both for Nkiru and her beloved country, Nigeria.
Set in the politically charged colonial and post-independence Nigeria (as well as the vibrant capitals of Uganda, Sierra Leone and Britain), Egg-Larva-Pupa-Woman is a novel that fearlessly chronicles the history of Africa’s most populous and complex country whilst tackling big themes such as ethnic identity, racial discrimination, domestic violence, gender equality, endemic corruption, entrepreneurship and self actualisation, as well as universal themes such as love, mother-daughter relationships, betrayal and forgiveness.
Through a language of passion, poetry and deceptive simplicity, we see sisters and daughters, mothers and wives who metamorphose over time, juxtaposed with a nation’s fight for freedom, fall from grace and pursuit of an elusive destiny.
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