في انتظار ماريا

by Ifeoma Chinwuba, صبري محمد حسن (Translator)

A superb novel on the plight of female prisoners (in Nigeria)

821 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

- من مواليد بلدة "ننوي" في شرق نيجيريا عام 1960
- في طفولتها قامت الحرب الأهلية وطلبت أسرتها اللجوء إلى ليبرافيل ومن هناك انتقلت إلى أيرلندا.
- في عام 1970 عادت الأسرة من جديد إلى نيجيريا وأكملت "إفيوما" تعليمها حتى التحقت بجامعة "بنين" عام 1976 لدراسة اللغة الفرنسية.
- في عام 1980 حصلت على منحة دراسية من فرنسا للدراسة في جامعة "جرينبل" وتخرجت منها عام 1981.
- التحقت بجامعة "لاجوس" حيث أكملت دراساتها العُليا في العلوم السياسية.
- التحقت بوزارة الخارجية النيجيرية عام 1983، وعملت في السفارة النيجيرية في كل من غانا، وفرنسا، وإيطاليا.
- لها ثلاث روايات هي "تجار اللحم البشري" عام 2003، و"بلا خوف" عام 2004، و"في انتظار ماريا" عام 2011.

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

When one attempts to say a few things about a wonderful work like this, one begins to ponder on many aspects that seem to jump at one and startle one, especially as far as budding/established writers are concerned.

For example, how does a writer, never mind an African writer, get to conceive and write a book as long as this? This book is well over 600 pages in length! How long would it take to put such a work together? Would one not give up after some months or so? And in this case the book looks so realistic (naturalistic) that one would even swear that the book is non-fiction, that it's impossible to imagine such a mammoth work! There's even what seems to be real life reports from national newspapers ( eg Times here). The panoply of characters here is so well drawn and rounded that we are even sure that they MUST exist! Plus their conversations, eg the women prisoners here lamenting they can no longer be intimate with men, and missing love making and the like...

One might also find oneself wondering (irreverently?) about the great African writers over the decades, their works in juxtaposition with this particular work. Doesn't this author tower above virtually all of them on the strength of this book alone? (she has published other powerful books, novels). Are we not reading the work of Africa's best and most powerful writer here? I respectful stop myself here, before the pundits tear me apart for being "irreverent".

But this book itself. It is more than satisfying in every respect: the focus on female prisoners - dismal and bleak enough, throughout. The overpowering symbolism redolent in this book, mirroring a sick, decaying society that brings Fela's "everything is upside down" lamentation to mind. The putrefaction is for example highlighted by the descriptions of menstrual frustrations of the female inmates - the soul debasing descriptions of the acrid menstrual/ faecal smells... what a nightmare!

Some might regard it as a sort of criticism, the often coarse disgusting language of the inmates, but alas it actually contributes to the uncanny triumph of the author; this is the reality, sickening yes, but convincing conversations of pertinent incarcerated women. There is poignant despair, frustration, coruscating seething anger et al, but through it all, the effervescent Nigerian humour somehow prevails.

A literary classic, no doubt. Kudos

[Henry Ozogula · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extraordinary work. Awe inspiring. Must be easily one of the longest-ever Creative books published by any African. It will be too easy to over-praise this gargantuan work. Just get a copy and read it...it will take you a long time, but the book is authentic in every way, reflecting Nigeria in its sad reality, the tribes, the perils, frustrations etc

[Raphael Mokoena · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Masterpiece. Often heart rending, very realistic, with well rounded characters. The illuminating conversations alone are well worth the price of the work

[MAJA S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forget ‘African writer’. This work propels this great female author into one of the best writers in the whole wide world

[SULEIMAN]

A work of Genius. Award Winning

[Koke · Rating 2 out of 5]

الروايه ديه دورت عليها تلات سنين تلات سنين وقريتها في يومين ورا بعض من غير ما افصل
هي حلوة بس خساره التلات سنين

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unflinching and often brutal exploration of the lives of female inmates caught up in Nigeria's inefficient and often corrupt judicial system. Set against the backdrop of a dilapidated prison, the novel depicts the harrowing experiences of the women imprisoned there, some for years and often without due process of law. A broken down Black Maria means they can’t even be taken to court to have their cases heard. The narrative weaves together the personal stories of the inmates against a broader societal and political critique, highlighting the endemic corruption of the Nigerian state, which, incidentally, doesn’t come out at all well from this portrayal. Each of the women gets their chance to narrate their story – much like in the Canterbury Tales or the Decameron – so that the reader receives the full gamut of tales of oppression, violence and cruelty that seems to pervade every aspect of Nigerian life. My only real objection to the book is the graphic and constant depiction of sex, a subject that everyone, including the prisoners seems to be obsessed by, and the subsequent foul language. But if we are to accept that the book is an authentic portrait of at least a part of Nigerian society, then perhaps the pervasive sex is equally authentic and needs to be here. Personally I found it tedious and for me it detracted from the seriousness of the major themes of the novel. But overall this is an original, and, I feel, an important book that deserves a wide readership, and I am surprised that it has had so little critical attention. It deserves more.

[Noha Emam · Rating 2 out of 5]

الرواية في رأيي جميلة وبتحكي مأساة الإنسانية وما يتبعها من الظلم والقهر و الفساد
فيها جانب فلسفي وجانب سياسي اقتصادي
تقييمي منخفض لإفراط الكاتبة في التصوير الإباحي و الجمل و العبارات المقززة التى لا داعي لها في كثير من الأحيان .. طبعا أنا لا أنفي حتمية إظهار الإنحراف الإنساني من الرواية فهو جانب مهم فيها لكن ليس بهذه الصورة المفرطة المسببة للتقزز والإزعاج..
ولكن عامة تجربة جيدة مع الأدب الأفريقي و أرى أن هذه الرواية تشابه أخريات صادفن صدى عالمي كبير .

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this book, and would have given it a higher rating if not for a very casually described instance of child sexual abuse seemingly out of nowhere and that is never returned to again. I was so disgusted I considered DNFing but the rest of the book felt like such an important novel about the corruption of the Nigerian prison and justice system and it’s treatment of its women (and some men) that I powered through.

I thought the storytelling and narrative were very original, I enjoyed that the inmates stories were told in several forms: spoken word, written in letters to family, described in the thoughts of other characters and so on. I found the ending a bit abrupt but overall I think it was definitely worth reading, I just wish that one scene was either not included or was acknowledged to be wrong somehow, I feel like I would have been satisfied if the perpetrator was caught by the other inmates and beaten and shunned for the act or something along those lines, or if she had felt remorse later for it at least.

It is a very heavy book that probably should carry trigger warnings for everything you can think of, notably rape, murder, child sexual assault, child death, child brides, domestic violence, gore etc.

Thank you to NetGalley and Iskanchi Press for the early copy of this book.