The Joys of Motherhood

''A scorching portrayal of a woman''s life . . . the female, feminist counterpart to Things Fall Apart'' Bernardine Evaristo

''God, when will you create a woman who will be fulfilled in herself, a full human being, not anybody''s appendage? ... when will I be free?''

There is no greater honour for a woman in an Ibo village than to have children - especially sons. Unable to conceive in her first marriage, Nnu Ego is sent away to a new husband in the city of Lagos, where she finally succeeds in becoming a mother. But things are changing, and a war that unfolds thousands of miles away threatens her family''s fortunes and her entire way of life. In a world where motherhood is everything, what will be left for her at the end of it all?

''Sparkling intelligence and a certain kind of honest, lived, intimate insight into working-class colonial Nigeria'' Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie