Under The Udala Trees Paperback – September 20, 2016

Chinelo Okparanta’s Under the Udala Trees tells the story of Ijeoma with the girl’s voice and perspective. We meet her at age 11 in the midst of Nigeria’s civil war. Her father soon dead, Ijeoma tells us about war from a civilian point of view, a female point of view, the point of view of a girl who sees headless bodies along the road as common as flowers or mud. Privation and danger are everywhere, but when her mother sends her away to “safety,” she falls in love with another girl, and this forbidden love puts her in as much danger as the war.As the novel develops, we are swept into a world of myth and legend, a world of religion, where love is narrowly defined and verses used to punish and thwart, not inspire or reward, a world of rapid change, both personal and nation-wide. Ijeoma must learn to protect her love, hide it, and understand it without guidance from elders or scripture. Not only is this a war story and a love story, it is a coming of age story, the strands of which are woven tightly and the colors blended to form complex images of the deepest human complexity.From student to store clerk to running wild to marriage and finally to setting off on her own dangerous but loving path, Ijeoma becomes a brave woman, as free as she can be, and a loving soul. The novel does all this with a realistic style and details tinged with the magic of folk tales.The novel reminds me of Richard Wright’s masterful autobiography, Black Boy, insightful in society’s violent injustices, brave in its truth and love of life, and daring in its revelations.

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 narrative, and although the plot is not necessarily unexpected, I found myself carried away in the treacherous and secretive lives of the Nigerian lesbian community. The book features wonderfully relatable female leads and reveals the power that a community can hold over those within it. We are shown how shame is engendered as thoroughly as a sense of belonging, and how this tension creates immense uncertainty for women (and men) who don’t quite fit the mold.Despite the masterful austere essence of the prose, sometimes I found myself wishing that Okparanta would go deeper. The simplicity made sense when the story was being told from the point of view of a child, but as Ijeoma aged the narrative style did not. For such an incredibly emotional and complex issue, it was disappointing to sense that there was so much being held back from the story. While I appreciate authors who allow the reader to complicate and intuit the deeper meaning of things, I’m not confident that this was Okparanta’s intent, and therefore find myself wishing that she had tackled these issues with a bit more grit.Given the fact that in 2014 all homosexual relationships became illegal in Nigeria, subject to at least 14 years in prison, I think this is an important book to read, and one that probably needed to be told years or decades ago. It’s easy to read but not easy to stomach—elements which I think make it a good narrative to make a wide range of people confront an issue they may know nothing about.Elise Hadden, Under the Heather Books (www.undertheheatherbooks.com)

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.

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.

Beautiful story of a young girl who struggles with her identity in a country and culture that rejects her authentic self. Beautiful language and imagery. I waited too long to pick this up and open the cover and then could not put it down. I loved this novel.

Good story, well written. Touching story, difficult at time to read because of the topic. You can only have empathy for the main characters.

As seen in the picture and this is a very good book

The story starts of a bit distorted but as you turn the pages it gets more interesting. A feeling of sadness, shock, love ,happiness and anger. Love it and love is love

Great book. A journey of discovery in a war torn country written in a simple but beautiful way. Read it

What an amazing book. Deals with some heavy topics very eloquently. The writing was on point and flawless. Very much recommended.