Jagua Nana's Daughter

by Cyprian Ekwensi, Laurent Elder (Editor)

From one of Africa's foremost novelists and master story-teller, this is a sequel to Ekwensi's best-selling Jagua Nana. The story centres around the heroine's traumatic search for her real mother. All the intracacies of family life and relationships are woven into the story, and Liza finds both her mother and a partner.

Genres: Africa

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Cyprian Odiatu Duaka Ekwensi was a novelist famous for his Jaguar Nana series and many others. He wrote for children under the name C.O.D. Ekwensi.

Reviews

[Eric]

Many people in our modern world scoff at seemingly outrageous ideas, schemes and plots of tv "soap operas" - I am reminded of this as I consider the antecedents, mysteries, schemes, surrounding the birth and upbringing of Liza here. (Elizabeth is the daughter of Jagua Nana; Elizabeth is the protagonist of this work) In the earlier, more famous work, the eponymous Jagua Nana is a notorious prostitute, and her daughter, Elizabeth, is not much better, it seems. She has two children by two different men, and is already the mistress of a "rich and powerful man" - a man ensconced with a number of other wives. Jagua Nana's Daughter is a well written novel, even if it appears to ramble intermittently; the author Ekwensi, has never been averse to write about sex and physical pleasures allied to women, and this work is no exception - it is perhaps amusing eg when a "lowly" young woman is surprised at how much an older man enjoys ravishing her, spluttering widely in the process on top of her... Elizabeth finally meets her mother, Jagua, after a series of events and research and drama. Cheers! Vagaries of family life also in the mix in this absorbing work. Kudos to the late Cyprian Ekwensi for composing so many endearing works of literature...

[Madolyn Chukwu]

I was already a teenager when I was introduced to Ekwensi fiction. I was told that "he writes very well but you can see he admires women a lot, but mainly regarding them as sex objects ". Certainly this book provides more than enough evidence of this. The way boyfriend Saka moans and shouts like baby when Jagua Nana's daughter is in bed with her; the manner so many men stare at even stranger females with ill concealed lust; one of Saka's wives suddenly turning up at his hotel to seduce him, and brazenly thrusting her bosom at him to suck on! ; the recollection of Jagua Nana's daughter almost being raped by her guardian overseas as he soils his trousers; the same lady now a lawyer and falling for an old Judge who apparently always has a glazed expression in his eyes when he is beside her, and can only think of taking her to bed... it goes on and on. It seems so unnatural, or at least overdone. But it is still a good novel.

[Morolake]

Reading the first few pages seemed like the intro to a soft-sell magazine. The story was built around a Super-Heroine who overcame her difficulties with sex, intelligence and hardwork, while on the journey to finding her mother. The fluent use of pidgin is commendable, as well as the surrounding themes/storyline which focused on cross border wars between Nigeria and Cameroon.
Like a typical adult fairy-tale, the good people were rewarded and the bad people got what they deserved...

[I.J]

I loved Jagua Nana, so I naturally assumed that I would enjoy this book. Unfortunately, while the setting is vivid and realistic, the characterization leaves much to be desired. The characters are flat, and the novel has as many poorly fleshed-out twists/subplots as a struggling soap opera. I didn’t really like this book, but I’m still very impressed with Ekwensi’s ability to sketch urban Nigerian life on the page.

[Bolaji Olatunde]

That weird moment when you finish reading a novel by a revered Nigerian author and you ask yourself, "What semi-crap did I just read?"

Cyprian Ekwensi gave at least three generations of Africans literary classics. This, despite flashes of brilliance, isn't his best work at all.

[Ibrahima Diadhiou]

I really need it for my report

[Fantacee Wiz]

A Most Read!!!!!!