Son of the House tells the story of two women, Nwabulu and Julie, who are kidnapped together. Left with nothing but time and hope that their families will make it in time with the ransom, they decide to occupy themselves with stories about each other’s lives. Written in three parts, we follow these women on their journeys, sharing their pain, joy, regrets, lies, and secrets over about four decades. It is the author’s debut novel, first published in 2019.
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Nwabulu’s story is a rather intriguing one. Her mother died giving birth to her and her father, needing a son to carry on his lineage, remarried. He later died after a brief illness, and she had to stop going to school because her stepmother didn’t think it was necessary. I think this is where all her troubles began, as her stepmother started to devise any means possible to send her away from home.
When she turned 11, she was sent to Lagos to be a maid for her stepmother’s relative, who despised her so much. She was excited about going to Lagos, as she wanted to be as far away from home as possible, and all seemed to be going well until her oga decided to rape her. This continued until her madam found out. If you're wondering if things went south after this, oh yes they did. Nwabulu’s madam stabbed her on the shoulder as if she wasn’t the victim. I was absolutely furious here. How do you catch your husband raping an 11-year-old girl and all you can think to do in that situation is to attack her like she’s the enemy?
Not too long after the incident, an offer for Nwabulu to be a maid for another person came up, along with the possibility of going to school, this time in Enugu. She went there and worked very hard as she always did. Once again, all was going well until she fell in love with a rich man’s son, who got her pregnant and then denied being responsible.
It was back to square one for Nwabulu once again, but worse this time because she was pregnant and society was unkind to pregnant unmarried women; they were stigmatized like people with leprosy. Such women were subjected to being married off to old men who would take them as their third or fourth wife, or a widower who needed a wife to take care of his children and would in return, accept said child as his. When offers like this came, the families of the women usually accepted them with gratitude.
“I had done the worst thing an unmarried girl in Nwokenta could do—I had opened my legs to a man and announced it boldly and foolishly with a pregnant belly.”
Nwabulu’s fate was worse; she was forcefully married off to a dead man to get rid of her and somehow save the family name. Her child would belong to the dead man’s family. It was a custom of her people to marry wives for dead unmarried men to secure their names and lineage. When Nwabulu gave birth, she became very protective of her child much to her mother-in-law’s (Mama Nathan) annoyance, who always found reasons to quarrel with her.
She was eventually sent packing and her bride price was sent back to her people but she was denied her child because the child now belonged to the family by marriage. When Nwabulu attempted to run away with her son and was caught, Mama Nathan took him to Enugu with her. Nwabulu knew she wasn’t coming back anytime soon; as such, there was no need to remain in the village, so she packed up her little belongings and left.
Julie, the second woman, also had a compelling story. At a certain age, women are expected by their families and society at large, to be married and caring for their families. Julie was well past that age and still unmarried so her mother insisted with finality that it was time for Julie to get married and have her own children.
“Go and live your own life. Find a man, any man, get married, and have children. That is what is most important so that you can be happy and fulfill your life’s purpose.”
Julie was dating Eugene, a married man who was looking for a son, as a man without a son was seen as incompetent or incomplete. Someone needed to carry on the family name so he begged Julie on several occasions to get pregnant for him. With her mother on her neck, Julie did the complete opposite of everything she said she would never do. She wanted to be the least of her mother’s worries since her mother was grieving her brother’s death. The plan was straight and simple: marry and get pregnant, which shouldn’t be a hard task, or so she thought.
Julie’s life took a nasty turn in less than a year. She was unable to get pregnant and to top it off, she was stuck in a loveless marriage. She lied about being pregnant to her mother and husband then faked a miscarriage. Julie’s friend, Obiageli came up with a solution to help with her situation; she suggested they go to an Uwani woman, who helped people in her situation. She refused at first but she eventually decided to go.
Eze Nwaanyi said she would have a baby boy soon without giving her any concoction but she wasn’t convinced so Julie was about to put up another lie, one that could get her in trouble. Despite all that was going wrong in her life, she found joy in spending time with Tata, a little boy in her friend’s house, who had come from the village with a relative. He eventually became much more to her.
“And I began to realize that a single life was better than a life lived within the prison of a loveless marriage.”
Nwabulu was now happily married with two kids. She had also become a Fashion designer and was content with her life. Julie’s son was getting married to the love of his life and she was happy but lonely having lost her husband who became her best friend over the years. She had a wedding to plan and attend; Nwabulu had even made her dress and they were heading out after the fitting when they got kidnapped.
Julie was the first to share her story with Nwabulu, although she left out some bits and pieces. She was now looking at Nwabulu to tell hers and so she did. Nwabulu opened up about everything and when she finished, Julie could not breathe. She waited for Nwabulu to finish her story, knowing she had to tell the truth about something she had been carrying for years.
“Liars, my father had often told us, were always found out.”
Their ransom was paid but by then, Julie had passed out and wasn’t waking up. The kidnappers carried her outside and left her there. Not too long after, Nwabulu’s husband came for them and they rushed her to the hospital.
I like how the author portrays societal expectations in this book. Nwabulu was blamed for getting raped and falling pregnant. Women are expected to be demure and accepting of everything they are told, so when she was asked to marry a dead man to “cover the family shame,” she wasn’t expected to have a say but to just do what the family has decided. Julie was content with where she was but the pressure to get married from her mother led her to make a drastic decision.
No matter how we look at it, these cultures and expectations of women don't favor them in any way. Men can get away with just about anything. When Julie suspected that her husband was cheating, her friend, Obiageli encouraged her to hold on to him regardless. Women are expected to stay in marriages that no longer serve them.
Another thing that stood out for me in this book was the female friendship between Chidimma and Nwabulu, and Julie and Obiageli. Their friendship stood the test of time and years later, they were still looking out for each other regardless of the situation.
Past trauma can sometimes affect the way we see and handle things, no matter how long ago it was. There’s almost always the impulse to defend ourselves even when there’s no in sight. Nwabulu losing her first child made her more protective of her other children. She was so focused on them that she left other things unattended, but she eventually decided to stop torturing herself.
I really enjoyed reading this book; it kept me on my toes the whole time.
Have you read this book? What did you think about it? Kindly leave a comment.
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