Title: The Joys of Motherhood
Author: Emecheta, Buchi
Publisher: Longman
Pages: 224
Date Read: 08 September 2023
Bookshelves: read
My Rating (out of 5): ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A very sad book indeed. In this book, Emecheta writes about a culture that ties a woman’s worth to the responsibilities of motherhood.
First, you must be a mother. Then you must bear sons to carry your husband’s family name. And while raising these kids almost singlehandedly, languishing in penury because your husband went to fight in another man’s war, you must take responsibility for the failures and share none of the successes. You learn early on that the only reward for motherhood is a promise. A promise that your male children will be successful and take care of you. And if they eventually become successful and do not remember to repay your kindness, your task as a mother is to continue to wish them well. To be wholly content that you raised a success story. After all, you did not just birth a child; you birthed a male child. That is what you must aspire to be: a mother to male children. In the eye of culture, you are far better than a woman with no sons; or worse, a woman with no children.
Emecheta writes about a culture that does not allow women to be their people; and grooms women to center their being around the men in their lives. From this book, we learn that there is no freedom for a mother in life, and certainly not in death. There is no happy ending to this book so do not expect one. Just paragraphs upon paragraphs of sorrow and pain. The only instance of joy in this book is right there on the front cover.
A very well-written book and an essential read for anyone looking to interrogate a culture that takes to the extreme what it means for a woman to be a daughter, a wife, a mother, and an ancestor.
Worth a read!