Appearing in 1966, Efuru was the first internationally published book, in English, by a Nigerian woman. Flora Nwapa (1931-1993) sets her story in a small village in colonial West Africa as she describes the youth, marriage, motherhood, and eventual personal epiphany of a young woman in rural Nigeria. The respected and beautiful protagonist, an independent-minded Ibo woman named Efuru, wishes to be a mother. Her eventual tragedy is that she is not able to marry or raise children successfully. Alone and childless, Efuru realizes she surely must have a higher calling and goes to the lake goddess of her tribe, Uhamiri, to discover the path she must follow.
The work, a rich exploration of Nigerian village life and values, offers a realistic picture of gender issues in a patriarchal society as well as the struggles of a nation exploited by colonialism.
Other titles by African writers from Waveland Press:
Ba, So Long a Letter (ISBN 9781577668060)
Beti, The Poor Christ of Bomba (ISBN 9781577664185)
Emecheta, Kehinde (ISBN 9781577664192)
Equiano, Equiano's Travels (ISBN 9781577664871)
Head, The Collector of Treasures and Other Botswana Village Tales (ISBN 9781478607601)
Head, Maru (ISBN 9781478607618)
Head, When Rain Clouds Gather (ISBN 9781478607595)
La Guma, In the Fog of the Seasons' End (ISBN 9781478600251)
Marechera, The House of Hunger (ISBN 9781478604730)
Mofolo, Chaka (ISBN 9781478607151)
Ngugi-Mugo, The Trial of Dedan Kimathi (ISBN 9781478611318)
Oyono, Houseboy (ISBN 9781577669883)
Oyono, The Old Man and the Medal (ISBN 9781478609582)
p'Bitek, Song of Lawino & Song of Ocol (ISBN 9781478604723)
Plaatje, Mhudi (ISBN 9781478609575)
Rifaat, Distant Views of a Minaret and Other Short Stories (ISBN 9781478611288)
