a nutshell: this 1991 novel follows the love life of a career-centred woman in Accra, Ghana, who divorces her husband and becomes the second wife to a charming & wealthy Muslim man
a line (or four): “‘Why is life so hard on the professional African woman?’ … ‘Why is life so hard on the non-professional African woman? Eh? Esi, isn’t life even harder for the poor rural and urban African woman?’ ‘I think life is just hard on women’ … ‘But remember it is always harder for some other women somewhere else'”
an image: in a fascinating monologue about society today and in their ancestors’ time, Esi’s grandmother conjures up the idea of a better life where it is not always the case that some humans (men) are gods and others (women) are sacrificial animals
a thought: after her husband forces her into sex, Esi later realises she had suffered ‘marital rape’ and mulls over how this would be considered an imported feminist idea, since society wouldn’t have an indigenous term for it – a husband claims it as his right
a fact: Aidoo is the subject of a 2014 documentary The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo by Yaba Badoe
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