Buchi Emecheta’s novel The Bride Price takes us back to Nigeria! It tells the tragic story of Aku-nna, a city girl, whose childhood in Lagos is cut short by the unexpected death of her father. Unable to afford urban life, her family then returns to their ancestral village of Ibuza. But Aku-nna finds herself frequently estranged by the customs there. As she comes of age in this new context, The Bride Price offers a glimpse into wider matters of gender and culture. Yet especially through her marriage and death the book highlights the impact of one tradition: the bride price, a payment made by a male suitor to marry a girl. While this is a story very much rooted in its Nigerian setting, at its best, it also raises more transcendent themes. Indeed, it displays a wry, intimate knowledge of the tragedy and comedy of human life.
This week we are privileged to feature two formidable expert guests. An extended reflection is offered by the poet and scholar Abena Busia, who is soon to be Emerita Professor of Rutgers University. She is also currently Ghana’s Ambassador to Brazil. Then, we interview the publishing legend Margaret Busby, who was Britain’s first black woman publisher, as well as the publisher and editor of The Bride Price.
This is an affiliate link for which we may receive a commission.
Sources
Busby, Margaret, editor. Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present. Jonathan Cape, 1992.
Busby, Margaret, editor. New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent. Amistad Press, 2019.
Ward, Cynthia. “What They Told Buchi Emecheta: Oral Subjectivity and the Joys of ‘Otherhood.'” PMLA, vol. 105, no. 1, 1990, pp. 83-97. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/462345. Accessed 10 Mar. 2021.