Sunday 10 November 2013

In Dependence, 2008, Sara Ladipo Manyika ****

In the early sixties a young Nigerian Tayo Ajayi was granted scholarship to study abroad in Oxford University. Where he met a lot of Nigerians like himself, with whom they formed the most important African Association on campus. Life was bubbling over with excitement. He was in favour of Nigerian independence and was involved with the Civil Rights movements and all the revolutions of that time. Meanwhile, he met Vanessa Richardson, whose ideas on African politics do not differ much from his; even though, she was the daughter of a racist ex-colonial officer.  They fell head over hill with each other. However, seemingly, their love could not survive the pressure of racism. Especially, since Vanessa's father was a self proclaimed racist and Tayo's doubts with regard to Vanessa fitting in his tightly knit polygamous Yoruba family. One thing led to another; hence, they miserably came to a parting of the ways.

In Dependence is the story of two people who were madly in love with each other but could not stay together due to the racist preconception of their time. It is not a romance novel per se and should not be categorised as such. Nevertheless, it is a serious novel that convincingly narrates on the price we pay for the decisions we  make in our life, whether right or wrong. And life sometimes is just about doing what makes you happy independently of other people's opinion. At the end it is your life. Unfortunately, most of African culture reject such philosophy, for us life is not only about the individual but also about family, relatives, communities, tradition, culture and the list goes on.
Additionally, the characters were so realistic that I could feel them. The novel also covered the political changes that took place in Nigeria, such as the independence, the coups, the civil war, military regime, dictatorship and back again to democracy.

This beautifully written novel was a pleasurable reading experience. I learnt a lot, especially about the importance of living according to your own heart desire; otherwise, you would live miserable. I highly recommend and doubt that you would not enjoy it.

Please click here if you would like to know more about Sara Ladipo Manyinka.

10 comments:

  1. Vienen ganas de leerla, gracias por explicarlo tan bien, tus comentarios son excelentes!! La novela, ya te comentaré. Otra vez, GRACIAS!!! Mercè

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  2. This sounds quite interesting. I had a friend whose relationship with an African man ended for similar reasons.

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    1. Yeah it happens, sometimes the differences is an obstacle to overcome.

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  3. This sounds really good, Mary. I think the rest of the world could benefit from some African influence when it comes to self and families. I've put In Dependence on my TBR list. :-)

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    1. Yeah it is lovely when there aren't any differences and I love it. However, sometimes, it is not easy to make a whole community to understand and agree with you. But yes, the world has got a lot to learn to learn from African influence on self and families.
      I look forward to reading your thoughts. :-)

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  4. Wonderful review, Mary. Interracial relationships have come a long way but I guess there is much that has to be overcome still.

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  5. Thanks for adding me on Goodreads, Mary, and I'm really glad I checked out your blog. There seem to be so many good reading ideas; I'll probably give a lot of these books a try. This particular one strikes a chord with me as I'm part of an interracial relationship. And from experience I know that even though society seems to have "advanced" so far ahead in terms of acceptance between the 60s and today, it really hasn't all that much.

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    1. Hello Jules,
      I am so glad you stopped over, I love love your blog too, I've already subscribed. And yeah this is a novel you would enjoy really. Especially, as you said, if you are part of an interracial relationship like the characters.

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