#1: The One?

A Review of In Dependence by Sarah Ladipo Manyika

Greetings! 👋🏽

I hope you are doing well. And taking good care of yourself.

In Dependence is the author's first novel, first published in 2008 and republished in 2019.

It tells the story of Tayo Ajayi, a scholar in England and the woman he loved dearly, Vanessa Richardson. The story is told against the backdrop of the post-colonial era in Nigeria and spans about 4 decades.

The book opens with Tayo leaving for England in the early 1960s, around the time Nigeria gained independence from colonial rule. He has received a scholarship to study at Oxford University and his entire family is at the ship dock to see him off.

Tayo is described as a handsome man, as well as a smart one. He settles in relatively easily, makes friends with other Nigerians and quickly becomes popular among the ladies.

One of them is Christine, whom he is both attracted to and repelled by. They have a rather difficult relationship owing to their cultural differences because Christine, though Nigerian, had lived in England since she was a little girl, while Tayo was more traditional in his ways.

When he meets Vanessa, it is as though she is the missing piece in his life. They fall deeply in love with each other and soon, they are spending all their free time together. Tayo finds himself constantly thinking about her when they are not taking walks together.

Women can bring men flowers too, you know? —Vanessa, to Tayo.

They also have cultural differences but they are determined to go ahead regardless. Vanessa is willing to learn all about her lover's customs and traditions and all is going well until Vanessa's father steps in.

An ex-colonial officer who held some racist views, he decides to talk to Tayo about the issues they are likely to face as a mixed-race couple. He suggests it would be better for his daughter if Tayo did not marry her.

Tayo does not get to tell Vanessa about this conversation as he travels home to Nigeria shortly after, when he receives a telegram from his mother. His father was sick and he needed to return home as quickly as possible.

Tayo stays in touch with his beloved at first, sending her letters and earnestly waiting for her reply. There is a coup, a war breaks out and the days between his letters become longer. Vanessa bravely decides to visit.

While they are at the hotel, he tells her about a woman who is now pregnant with his child. She asks him what he's going to do about it and when he replies that he does not know, she storms out of the room, leaving their relationship hanging in the air.

Tayo marries this other woman—Mariam, his father's nurse, and they have a daughter together. It is clearly a marriage of convenience and they do their best to live in peace.

Vanessa, on the other hand, moves to Senegal and settles there as a journalist. It is later revealed that she married a much older man. Another loveless marriage. She also adopted the son of her best friend while she was in Senegal.

They lived separate lives but each person sometimes thought about the other person. I guess it's safe to say that their love somehow remained even though they did not stay in touch so the other person did not know.

Was Vanessa Tayo's “the one” or that was what he had fixed his mind on and he could not see it any other way? We see this with Charles on The Crown.

This makes me question my stance on the concept of "the one." I don't necessarily agree there is only one person for everyone and if you miss it, that's it. I do think, however, that if you lose or mess up a relationship with a great person, you may not get another chance. Enter the one that got away.

Tayo and Vanessa's story is a bittersweet one of unfulfilled love. Although they reunite decades later and still care for each other, they can't quite be together. Miriam had since divorced Tayo and taken their daughter with her to England, when he refused to leave Nigeria but Vanessa is still married.

So much time had passed; they were different people now, the burden of life and the choices they made over time weighing heavily on them.

N.B: the story picks up rather slowly so you have to be patient with the book.

Have you read this book? What did you think about it? Leave a comment, maybe? 😉

If you pick up this book after reading this review, do come back and share 😊