Second Class Citizen by Buchi Emecheta Book Review — Gold Elijah
Second Class Citizen is a fictitious narrative authored by renowned novelist, Buchi Emecheta, who also wrote The Joys of Motherhood.
The story which is captured in thirteen chapters and about two hundred pages, centres around the life of its protagonist, Adah. It starts from the period of her birth which is not met with much excitement and enthusiasm, because her parents expected a male child.
Second Class Citizen is set in Nigeria (Lagos) and the United Kingdom. It relates and reveals the agony of a typical Nigerian/African girl child/woman, who some decades back, and to an extent till date, is considered as a second class citizen.
Limited by societal factors, which are largely targeted at the females, Adah is left with no choice, but to get married after her secondary school education, to Francis. These factors could however not kill her love for education and dream to become a force to be reckoned with. She becomes the breadwinner of the family and the one who sponsors Francis’ travelling and education abroad. She and the children eventually join him in the UK where they are treated as “second class citizens”.
Amidst the hurdles, Adah strives and bags achievements worthy of applause, which also attracts envy. Her husband is threatened and vows to frustrate her. There is much more difficulty in London than Adah could have imagined, but she’d not faint in the midst of them all.
Buchi’s Second Class Citizen is an interesting novel that I would recommended without a second thought.
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