Under The Udala Trees

Chinelo Okparanta's Under the Udala Trees is a breathtaking narrative that combines difficult-to-discuss subjects with beautiful prose. Her story of Ijeoma, a young girl whose family is changed forever during the Biafran and who is forced to form her own idea about love and the world in the absence of parental guidance, is moving and provocative. Okparanta makes readers question the foundation of love and homophobia, the religious ties between the two, and the implications of this connection or lack thereof on the Queer psyche. Her exploration of public, familial, and self acceptance in a society that is not accepting is poignant and breathtaking. The plot never feels forced and her characters make decisions that are very true to human nature and behavior. Okparanta does not idealize or gloss over painful situations. Instead, she acknowledges the pain of suffering and indecision without wallowing in it. If you are looking for a thought-provoking, well written story I would highly recommend purchasing a copy of Under the Udala Trees.

Under the Udala Trees tracks the life and loves of Ijeoma, a Nigerian girl who discovers at a young age that she loves women and not men. Beginning with her experience of the war between Biafra and the Nigerian government, we follow Ijeoma when she is sent to another village to be a housegirl, where she meets her first love. As she journeys through a life of heartbreak and secrecy, whether at an all-girls boarding school or at an underground lesbian dance-club, we are exposed to the rawness of her mother’s attempt to cleanse her soul, the joy in her forbidden loves, and her fear and anguish when the unbending laws of the local culture tarnish her desires. “Happiness was what she called it. But I knew that happiness was a word like madness, like sickness, like confusion, like loss, like death. Even like beautiful or pure or angelic or God. Happiness was a word that represented some deeper, unexplainable, heavy idea, the kind of idea that goes back and forth between two different worlds.” Okparanta is one of those rare writers who can truly harness the power of simplicity to let the potency of the narrative shine through. Modest, unhurried language and a plot that meanders without dramatic twists and turns leave readers of Under the Udala Trees in a rare and fortunate place—one in which there is nothing left to consider but the bare truths of having a self that is forbidden. The simplicity of the prose makes it impossible to hide from the power and strength of the…

What this author has done, in creating and telling a story of identity and religion, is so important that I can feel it echo in my thoughts and my heart. This has been a fantastic and compelling read.

The story is about a young woman coming of age in Nigeria during the Biafra war, which is an intriguing setting. As it turned out, the war was over pretty soon and the young lady's struggle with her sexuality continued for the rest of the read. Though well-written and populated with interesting characters, I found it rather one dimensional, maybe to the point of obsession. There must have been a lot going on around her that was overlooked.

Chinelo Okparanta has written a masterfully raw, poetic and beautiful story. I will be searching for more of her work. Brilliant!