These days, It feels like I've been keeping a streak of unsatisfying books. l read a total of four books this week and only one of them was satisfying enough. One I'm not going to review today. If it existed, I think I fell into an unsatisfying books era, after bouncing back from my slump.
I saw this book in my library and since I had been going through tough times with books, I needed every spell of good things, this book could offer. It didn't help that the author is someone I've heard so much about one of her books. So I started this book in excitement, after reading the synopsis, hoping that it will indeed be a spell of good things for me.
A spell of Good Things by Ayobami Adebayo, is a 496 paged book that tells the story of two families whose lives are interconnected.
Eniola is a young boy. After his father lost his job, his family is plunged into abject poverty and they do everything possible to afford basic necessities - begging included. Eniola works for a local seamstress, Caro and spends his time there, dreaming of a big future for himself.
Yeye is mother to Wuraola, and a friend to Caro. She frequents Caro's shop and after sighting Eniola begging one fateful Sunday, she decides to pay his apprenticeship fee at Caro's shop. Eniola grateful for it, bears it in mind that he owes Yeye for her kindness. Sadly, he doesn't get a chance to repay his debt before calamity befalls his family and hers, due to a reckless action of his.
When I started getting into Nigerian books, I remember reading a book that left me shattered and I was talking to a friend, saying 'I never knew Nigerian authors did trauma, in their writings'. My friend responded saying 'You haven't seen anything'. You guys, after reading this book, my mind went back to that particular statement of hers and I think I am now beginning to see it. This book was trauma itself. With every good thing that happened, more bad things happened. I cried, I smiled, I breathed, and most of all, I felt, in this book.
The plot was everything I needed at that moment. It was a fast-paced book that had me so engrossed in it. With how busy my schedule was this week, I squeezed out time and read it in two days. Ayobami took the term 'rollercoaster of emotions' to another level. From anger, to sadness and pain for the characters, you'd feel everything in this book, thanks to how descriptive she was.
For the characters, I enjoyed reading most of them. From Yeye, to Eniola, to Caro, to Motara, I enjoyed each of them's story. They were all fun to read that even when they were making mistakes, the circumstances surrounding the mistake would make it somewhat justifiable. But I had issues with two characters in this book.
Wuraola, Yeye's daughter. She was a medical doctor, loved at home, successful and yet, she saw domestic violence as a bearable flaw in a relationship. Seeing her justify the slaps, and fool herself into thinking that it wouldn't escalate into something more, irritated me. It just did not make sense. When it comes to domestic violence, if you're slapped, don't think that you'll continue to be slapped forever. Bear in mind that that slap will next time, turn into a slap and a hit at the back, then it'll proceed to kicks and blows, before it reaches the choking phase. So if you're staying because you're only being slapped now, prepare your mind to stay when he pins you to a wall. Wuraola was our smartest character. There's no reason why she should be saddled with such flaw.
I disliked Eniola's mother as well because she was so unfair to Eniola and didn't even consider his feelings in some situations. I don't really know if poverty could make a person irrational but most of her actions were, and I got tired of her. Aside these two, I enjoyed the rest of the characters.
The main reason why I found this book unsatisfying was because to me, it was left unfinished. How would you end a book, at the peak of events and go ahead to write a prologue of character's lives a year later? It's unfair. The ending of this book was so abrupt, I was left with so many unanswered questions. Without giving spoilers, let me put it better. Imagine watching a movie where the main characters are fist-fighting for power and suddenly, the right hand man of one of the fighters die. Then, you're shown a scene one year later, where they're planning the burial of the character who died. No insight on who eventually won the fight, what became of their lives after the fight, No nothing.
I have no idea what she tried to achieve by ending a book such as this, which would have been a masterpiece, the way she did. It made just no sense. I'll rate the book a 6/10. It definitely deserved more but I believe that to be able to rate a book fairly, it mostly depends on how the ending left you feeling. This had a tragic and abrupt end to it.
Thanks for reading.
Images are screenshots from my e-library.