A Captivating Trip: Life in Past Nigeria

Book Insights: Elechi Amadi takes us on a trip into pre-colonial Nigeria of the past.

Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash

The Concubine, written by acclaimed Nigerian writer Elechi Amadi, provides a preview of life in Nigeria prior to the arrival of Europeans.

Just like riding or driving in a new car, reading this novel is an exhilarating experience. You and your car both feel like repeating the trip at the end of each journey.

Even though I know not to judge a book by its cover, I still searched the internet for the original edition's cover. I read the book for the first time in 1984. My latest reading was on my e-book app.

The Concubine is a beautiful love story with a sweet-to-bitter-to-sweet ending.

Beautiful, virtuous, and flawless in character, Ihuoma (as later revealed through the medicine-man’s divination) was the wife of the Sea King. Against his wishes, she reincarnated through birth to live with humans. Unknown to her and her denizen of adoring suitors, the Sea King will not permit her to marry any mortal man.

Hear her,

“These things are strange and almost funny. I certainly don’t feel like a daughter of the sea.”