As she comes of age, she struggles to balance her mother's expectations with her own homosexuality. She's referring to the 1967 Biafran War in Nigeria - a civil war that was catastrophic for the Igbo people, who had tried to secede from Nigeria and form their own nation of Biafra.įor the novel's protagonist, Ijeoma, that war is just the beginning of her long journey of self-discovery. "My mother watched her father die in the war, the same way my protagonist does," the Nigerian-American author tells NPR's Arun Rath. When Chinelo Okparanta started writing her novel Under the Udala Trees, she didn't have to look far for inspiration into her main character's tragic backstory. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title Under the Udala Trees Author Chinelo Okparanta
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