Lovely for its depiction of village life in mid-twentieth century rural Nigeria, Alkali's tale is a book about a strong young woman who, despite the patriarchal village culture that holds back and oppresses women, is determined to live her life by her own rules.
Li is one of many children who lives in her father's compound in a village in Nigeria. He has a couple of wives, but he is of frail health following an accident at a prayer meeting several years ago, as our story opens. He has trouble controlling her brother Sule, because he is willful and goaded on by his grandma. He also has trouble with Grandma, who is his stepmother, who swears at him, and who he suspects is a witch. "But deep down in his heart, he knew grandma wasn't the only reason for his son's abnormal behavior. Other things helped to confuse his sense of moral values. Mainly the Quest for modern living coupled with a foreign culture, a thing that was sweeping the whole community like wildfire." p.25

Li is 13 when the story opens, and already attracting the eyes of boys. Habu is one of those boys. She likes Habu, too. Soon, he contrives meetings with her, and one day at the market..."He moved closer to her and quickly slipped a 10 shilling note between the folds of her wrapper. He had left before she realized what he had done. Li moved and the note fell out to the great amusement of the traders.
'That is a fortune, is it not?' said one of them. 'Today's market is meant for you,' said another.
'But ten shillings, what a big leak that Must have made in his pocket, and come to think of the pocket...' he guffawed and the rest followed suit.
'That is enough,' an elderly man cut them short. 'Without doubt, you are her father's age-mate. Are you envious that the sun has set for you?' Gradually the laughter died down amidst many protests." p. 31

Habu wins Li's hand, his family pays the bride-price, and Habu goes to the city to get a job to be able to make a home for the couple, so he leaves Li behind in her father's compound to wait for him. But it has been four years, and Li is still in the village. "Mechanically she began washing pots and calabashes, her mind divorced from her fingers. She was dreaming of a paradise called the city. A place where she would have an easy life, free from slimy calabashes and evil-smelling goats. She looked down at her coarse hands and feet. One of these days she would be a different woman, with painted nails and silky shiny hair.
She was going to be a successful grade 1 teacher and Habu a famous medical doctor, like the white man in the village mission hospital. The image of a big European house full of houseboys and maids Rose before her. Li smiled to herself. The bushy stream, the thorny Hillside and the dusty Market would soon be forgotten, in the past." p.55

Four Years later, Habu sends for her. But Habu is not the same boy she married. He is sullen and stays away most of the time from their apartment. Moreover, he is no doctor, but a salesman. Li's only friend is their landlady who keeps an eye out for the pregnant Li when she can. Li is furious, and exasperated with this life that is no life, and wants to return to the village. Her landlady consoles her, telling Li the story of her own wedded life. " '... I stayed. I was married to him. It was where Allah wanted me to be. I stayed, Li, not for a year or two, but for 30 years. I may have suffered but in those years I learnt a valuable lesson that patience, as our people always say, does not sour no matter how long you keep it, and a patient person could cook a rock and drink the soup.' " p.73

Li has at times had dreams that foretell the future. In one dream, she sees herself as an old woman, on the day of her great-granddaughter's wedding. She feels sad, because her life fell short of the dreams she had as a girl. In the dream, her great-granddaughter reassures her: " 'No, great-grandmother! It isn't true. You are a success, remember? You gave your life for the welfare of the people.' 'It is Well to dream, child,' she went on as if she hadn't heard the girl. 'Everybody does, and as long as we live, we shall continue to dream. But it is also important to remember that like babies dreams are conceived but not all dreams are born alive. Some are aborted. Others are stillborn.' " p.104

This book may remind the reader of the dreams of their youth, and how life seems to get in the way of those dreams. Moreover, it will once again reinforce the truth of the saying: "You can never go home again."

( )

Thirteen-year-old Li has finished grade 7 – the highest grade girls are allowed to complete – in the neighboring village and is on her way home in a swerving truck brimful with kids. She immediately strikes one as independent. While the kids are all absorbed in cheering the driver on home, she dislikes being squashed up and notes the reckless driving.

As children, she, her older sister, Awa, and their friend, Faku each nurture dreams of a happy future dominated by marriage and many children, a token of a woman’s success in society. But Li has dreams beyond marriage, she also wants an education and she wants to become a teacher. Li also dreams about her future in a paradise called the 'city'.

This novel takes one to the heart of an African village, into huts and down to streams to collect water and firewood, as we follow Li’s choices in life. One cannot ignore the harsh patriarchal rules imposed on women in this society. Women are meant to stay home and wait for proposals, or for their husbands to come home. Women wait, while men go out in search of their destinies.

Li is different; she goes in search of what she wants. When attracted to a handsome new kid-on-the-block, she leaves a gaping hole in the fence through which she escapes to be at the dance with him. She follows her heart, but it’s a struggle. Sometimes she succumbs to tradition and we don’t agree with the choices she makes. And things do not always work out for her, but she is a woman struggling and reaching for her dreams and, in the process, she may grieve but she also grows.

The title is a reference to the dreams that women have, and the fact that while some dreams are realised, others remain stillborn.

There are many deeper issues at play here, but this was ostensibly a first step by Alkali in addressing issues of women and modernisation in contemporary Nigerian society. A lovely read! ( ) ( )