CURSED DAUGHTERS

A family of Nigerian women finds their romantic lives plagued by a long-ago curse in the new novel by the author of My Sister, the Serial Killer (2018).

As Braithwaite’s story opens, a 25-year-old woman named Monife is about to drown herself in the ocean due to a disappointment in love: “The tragedy had already happened and this was simply the inevitable consequence.” On the day of her funeral, her cousin Ebun gives birth to a daughter who looks exactly like her late aunty. Little Eniiyi will grow to resemble Monife more and more closely, and eventually her life will become deeply entangled with and reflective of Monife’s. No woman in the family has ever had a successful relationship with a man, and family lore traces this back to a forebear who stole another woman’s husband and was cursed by her as follows: “No man will call your house, home. And if they try, they will not have peace. Your daughters are cursed—they will pursue men, but the men will be like water in their palms. Your granddaughters will love in vain. Your great granddaughters will labour for acknowledgement, but they will fall short of other women. Your daughters, your daughters daughters and all the women to come will suffer for man’s sake.” This whole novel revolves around the questions of whether Eniiyi is in fact the reincarnation of Monife, and whether there really is such a thing as a curse. The problem is that you will come away unsure. Eniiyi herself thinks it’s hooey and plans to go into genetic counseling to deal with the matter of inheritance in a more rational way, but when push comes to shove, she too consults the juju lady. The chapters jump back and forth through time, ranging from 1994 to 2025, and among the perspectives of Monife, Ebun, and Eniiyi, and thankfully by the end the women seem to be getting a little more control of their destinies (even the dead one!).

Is this a tragedy or a comedy? Though it ends up uneasily in the middle, it’s well-written and juicy.