The Slave Girl is a 1977 novel by Nigerian writer Buchi Emecheta[1] that was published in the UK by Allison and Busby and in the US by George Braziller. It won the Jock Campbell Award from the New Statesman in 1978.[2][3] The novel was Emecheta's fourth book; it was dedicated to her editor Margaret Busby.[4]
.jpg) Cover of the UK 1st edition | |
| Author | Buchi Emecheta |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Taiwo Jegede |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical fiction |
| Published | 1977 (hardback) |
| Publisher | Allison and Busby |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Pages | 179 |
| Awards | Jock Campbell Award from the New Statesman |
| Preceded by | The Bride Price |
| Followed by | The Joys of Motherhood |
The Slave Girl was reissued in 2018 by Omenala Press.[5]
Synopsis
editThe Slave Girl is set in colonial Nigeria, in the early 1900s, and tells the story of Ogbanje Ojebeta who, following the death of her parents is sold into domestic slavery. "She finds solace among her fellow slaves but learns the painful lessons of what it means to be owned by another. As she grows into a woman she longs for freedom and for a family of her own. She realizes that she must ultimately decide her own destiny, and when the opportunity arises, makes a choice that we as modern readers might find surprising."[5]
Critical reception
editFavourable reviews of the novel appeared in publications including the New Statesman – which said: "Buchi Emecheta generates a fine sympathy with human distress; this loving novel makes a telling indictment of pagan and Christian inhumanity to women" – and the Sunday Telegraph: "Ms. Emecheta once again creates an authentic character and scene and... explains the network of customs from the past which have contributed to present attitudes."[5] Writing in The Guardian, Carol Dix observed that the novel "pales a lot of academic feminist writing into insignificance....It makes you wish more writers came from the non-white-educated-middle-classes; which is something we should be trying to encourage."[6] According to Juliana Ogunseiju's review for Africa Book Club: "It is one of the very best pre-colonial African books and is heartily recommended."[7] Anita Kern in World Literature Today stated: "Ojebeta is a welcome addition to the still too small gallery of Nigerian heroines."[8]
Awards
edit- 1978: Jock Campbell Award from the New Statesman
Further reading
edit- Brodzki, Bella (1994), "'Changing Masters': Gender, Genre, and the Discourses of Slavery", in Margaret R. Higonnet (ed.), Borderwork: Feminist Engagements with Comparative Literature, Ithaca; London: Cornell University Press, pp. 42–60.
- Frank, Katherine (September 1982). "The death of the slave girl: African womanhood in the novels of Buchi Emecheta". World Literature Written in English. 21 (3): 476–497. doi:10.1080/17449858208588746.
- Tahbildar, Barnali (1997), "The Role of the Nigerian Woman in Emecheta's The Slave Girl", Postcolonial Web.
References
edit- ^ Grimes, William (10 February 2017). "Buchi Emecheta, Nigerian Novelist, Dies at 72". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- ^ Ray, Mohit K., ed. (2007). The Atlantic Companion to Literature in English. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. p. 164. ISBN 9788126908325.
- ^ "Buchi Emecheta 1944–", Concise Major 21st Century Writers , encyclopedia.com.
- ^ Busby, Margaret, "Buchi Emecheta obituary", The Guardian, 3 February 2017.
- ^ a b c "The Slave Girl", Omenala Press.
- ^ Carol Dix, "Black bite: Carol Dix on women's books", The Guardian, 6 February 1975, p. 11.
- ^ Ogunseiju, Julianah, "The Slave Girl (by Buchi Emecheta)", Africa Book Club, 1 August 2012.
- ^ Kern, Anita (1979). "Review of The Slave Girl". World Literature Today. 53 (1): 172. JSTOR 40132692.
External links
edit- Margaret Busby, "Where to start with: Buchi Emecheta", The Guardian, 20 March 2024.
- Emard Brice Likibi, Marien Ngouabi-Capes, "Discourse analysis on Buchi Emecheta's The Slave Girl", Memoire online, 2008.