Efuru

Appearing in 1966, Efuru was the first internationally published book, in English, by a Nigerian woman. Flora Nwapa (1931-1993) sets her story in a small village in colonial West Africa as she describes the youth, marriage, motherhood, and eventual personal epiphany of a young woman in rural Nigeria. The respected and beautiful protagonist, an independent-minded Ibo woman named Efuru, wishes to be a mother. Her eventual tragedy is that she is not able to marry or raise children successfully. Alone and childless, Efuru realizes she surely must have a higher calling and goes to the lake goddess of her tribe, Uhamiri, to discover the path she must follow.

The work, a rich exploration of Nigerian village life and values, offers a realistic picture of gender issues in a patriarchal society as well as the struggles of a nation exploited by colonialism.

Other titles by African writers from Waveland Press:

Amadi, The Concubine (ISBN 9781478634607)

Andreas, The Purple Violet of Oshaantu (ISBN 9781478634584)

Ba, So Long a Letter (ISBN 9781577668060)

Campbell, My Children Have Faces (ISBN 13 9781478635017)

Head, The Collector of Treasures and Other Botswana Village Tales (ISBN 9781478607601)

Head, Maru (ISBN 9781478607618)

Head, A Question of Power (ISBN 9781478634690)

Head, When Rain Clouds Gather (ISBN 9781478607595)

Kubuitsile, The Scattering (ISBN 9781478634591)

La Guma, In the Fog of the Seasons' End (ISBN 9781478600251)

p'Bitek, Song of Lawino & Song of Ocol (ISBN 9781478604723)

Plaatje, Mhudi (ISBN 9781478609575)

Rifaat, Distant Views of a Minaret and Other Short Stories (ISBN 9781478611288)