Under the Udala Trees

By: Chinelo Okparanta

Narrated by: Robin Miles

Inspired by Nigeria's folktales and war, Under the Udala Trees is a deeply searching, powerful debut about the dangers of living and loving openly. Ijeoma comes of age as her nation does; born before independence, she is 11 when civil war breaks out in the young republic of Nigeria. Sent away to safety, she meets another displaced child, and the star-crossed pair fall in love. They are from different ethnic communities. They are also both girls. When their love is discovered, Ijeoma learns that she will have to hide this part of herself. But there is a cost to living inside a lie.

As Edwidge Danticat has made personal the legacy of Haiti's political coming of age, Okparanta's Under the Udala Trees uses one woman's lifetime to examine the ways in which Nigerians continue to struggle toward selfhood. Even as their nation contends with and recovers from the effects of war and division, Nigerian lives are wrecked and lost from taboo and prejudice. But this story offers a glimmer of hope - a future where a woman might just be able to shape her life around truth and love.

©2015 Chinelo Okparanta (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Very interesting

I really enjoyed this book. It gave a perspective into a culture I was not familiar with. I must assumed that homosexuality was something more accepted than it actually is. The narrator kept me engaged.

Not at all what I was expecting!

At first I had to get used to the narrator's accent, then devoured it along with the author's detailed descriptions. I genuinely felt for the dilemma of the main character. The ending was fitting to the character's paradox, though I was sad to have it over! Superb writing and reading!

Lacks honesty and attempts to justify ruining other’s lives for self-preservation

I didn’t like the main character, which would be great if the story were written with the intent of her being the villain. Instead the writer attempts to justify and normalize completely destroying a person’s life. The main character intentionally marries someone they don’t love for selfish reasons, lies to them, cheats on them emotionally, and generally ruins their chance at what they believed was a real marriage. Then tries to demonize the victim without apologizing or even acknowledging what they did was wrong. However, the character of the person they attempt to demonize shines through anyway. I would have been able to empathize with the main character if it was honest. Instead I dislike her and found the book lacking.

Good book that left me wanting more.

The narrator was excellent. The story at times left me wanting more, especially at the end. I felt the author should have developed the second lesbian relationship a bit more and given more insight into their reunion and lifestyle. The lack of this exploration left me with many questions and thoughts. The author addresses many important themes such as sexual identity, culture, tradition, religion and death to name a few. The author writes beautifully in full, rich detail.

Great story and great performance.

The narrator was perfect for this book and she added so much to the already lyrical and wonderfully written prose.