The Family: A Novel

I can relate with this book on so many levels, I almost thought that Ms Emecheta was writing my story (just kidding).But truly, Buchi did really hit upon a lot of issues that plagued and continue to plague children growing up in Jamaica and then migrate to be with their parents aboard. The book follows the main character on her journey through the experience of her mother, her best friend, migration to England and leaving her to be raised by her grandmother who sometimes resented this job since after her mother migrated she was not helping financially; her rape by a close family friend; her branding as bad when she talked about her experience. The main character was able to migrate to London too after such a long time but her pain and suffering didn't stop...she was brand as a dunce, ask to stop from school to babysit, raped and impregnated by her own father. This book was a page tuner and capitivate my attention from start to finish. It was brillantly written.

Ms Buchi Emecheta is indeed one of the leading lights documenting the experience of Africans in the diaspora.She is indeed gifted.In this book which deals with the gradual emigration of a Jamaican family to England and the trials and tribulations they face there.It also deals with the issue of sexual abuse and incest and the damage it has on the family. The main character is a girl who lived with her grandmother in Jamaica for some years before joining her parents in England.It also has as a subtheme how the Black immigrants generally live in the U.K.I would indeed recommend it wholeheartedly to everybody.When you talk about Interpreters of Maladies the award winning book know that Ms Emecheta was indeed making chronicles of the African experience in the diaspora 20 years before that.

sensitive and compelling

Sad but true. Fantastic read!