It felt strange to read this, knowing how heavily autobiographical it was. I felt like I was learning a lot about someone who’s a stranger but doesn’t fully feel like a stranger because I’ve read up on Emezi. It’s almost voyeuristic in a way, as I was left wondering what parts were fiction. I would call this a literary spiritual novel.
The book follows Ada and the spirits (ogbanje) that inhabited her from birth. Most of the POVs are from the ogbanjes’ perspectives, sometimes from their collective “we” but many also coming from one in particular, Asughara, who took over after Ada was assaulted in college. Relatively little of the novel is from Ada’s perspective, which for a while makes it hard to really care about her, although I was still very engaged in the book.
People generally seem to view this as a book about trauma and mental illness, in addition to the spirit components (to the degree that readers are aware that the ogbanje are real from the author’s perspective). And it is all of those things, but this is also very much a story of abuse. The ogbanje, especially Asughara, are controlling and abusive towards Ada. Asughara notes that she and Ada love each other and lists why, and I think that’s all true. But they love each other the way an abuser and a survivor love each other, especially since Ada is protected by and reliant on the ogbanje. Even as they are protecting her from others, they are perpetuating harm themselves.
I loved Emezi’s prose in Pet, and I was drawn in again here, though the style is very different. The writing here is precise, rhythmic, and explains without lecturing. It drew me into this unfamiliar world and didn’t let go. While I expect that some of Emezi’s books really won’t work for me, I also suspect it will be tempting to try them all just because of their exquisite, well-controlled prose. 4.25 stars.
