Although baby factories have only become well known in Nigeria in the past fifteen years or so, they have always been there except the one I knew wasn’t called that. When I was a child in Enugu, a woman with whose children I was friendly had a clinic that was very much like the one Nani’s mother owns. She also had the reputation , like Nani’s mother, of “helping pregnant, young women.” She was also known to be magnanimous, a Christian and an exemplary community leader. When I started writing Nani’s mother, I thought of this woman who must have thought of herself also as offering an indispensable service. In a country where sexual assaults happen, where single mothers are stigmatized, where sex education isn’t encouraged, a young woman who must carry a pregnancy she doesn’t want may not feel exploited if someone offered them room and board and some money to take the baby off their hands. And the “savior” may not feel that selling on the baby conflicts with any moral values they hold. Afterall, they did not force the women and it could be worse. As it was for a young woman I spoke to in researching this novel. And for the sister of another. No. As long as you're alive and well, you've got the chance to turn things around. He hasn't ruined it. He has delayed it.” this book is beautiful. Unigwe’s writing style is so breathtaking and fits this fantastic portrayal of nani’s life. the pure isolation of grief that nani experiences cuts her off from her family, physically and emotionally. this book brought me to tears a couple of times and i even had to pause in a few places to take in the writing and events within the story. it is a brilliant portrayal of how to find strength in such bad times. Set predominantly in Enugu, South East Nigeria, the novel tells the story of Doda’s family made up of himself, Mother, Udodi, Ugo, and Nani – the eponymous middle daughter whose story provides the novel with its haunting and funereal aspect. The loss triggered a series of events that affected them as a collective and individually. Whilst Nani, struggles to overcome the grief, her mother and younger sister seemed to have moved on.

The Middle Daughter by Chika Unigwe | Goodreads

I'm not going to lie, I blamed Nani for marrying him. For deciding that marrying her abuser was better than facing her family. Their relationship had deteriorated, but it had not gotten that bad. The consequences of her decision to go to Ephraim made my skin crawl. Nani is the middle sister of an affluent Nigerian family. She is the quiet sister that follows the rules and often avoids conflict. Sudden loss changes her view of the world, causing her to believe she has lost herself also. We follow her perspective primarily as she has the most difficult experiences of her life. The book is in three parts and alternates between the past and present. Nani is the middle daughter of a loving, progressive and elite family in Nigeria. Then life happened - she first lost her elder sister in a motor accident and then her father to cancer.First let me say- I was warned twice before reading this book that is was very heavy and covered dark themes that will leave your soul aching. I am not sure I was prepared enough because in reading this I got very angry. The writing of this book will have you feeling a lot of different ways and I guess that is the mark of a good writer. Be prepared to be enraged. Be prepared to want to hurl the book across the room; to scream murder at Ephraim. To want to cradle Nani in your arms and whisper kind words to her. The Middle Daughter is an emotionally charged exploration of the ways in which a woman may fall victim to conventions designed to ensnare her. Chika Unigwe is a writer of great conviction and superior insight . . . Nani’s story drew me in from the start and pulled me under right up until the end’ AMINATTA FORNA

The Middle Daughter by Chika Unigwe - Publishers Weekly The Middle Daughter by Chika Unigwe - Publishers Weekly

An important and accomplished novel that leaves a strong aftertaste. Unigwe gives voice to those who are voiceless, fleshes out the stories of those who offer themselves as meat for sale, and bestows dignity on those who are stripped of it’ BERNARDINE EVARISTO Irrespective of however anyone feels about this book, I think that one thing we can all agree on is the fact that her talent at putting together beautifully crafted prose, speaks for itself. While reading this book, I encountered a good number of such passages and sentences and I just had to reread before moving on, for the sheer pleasure of it. The Udodi, Chorus interludes, had a lot of these. named by a man whose name i refuse to utter, whose name i have expunged from my system and banished to the underworld where it belongs.” I honestly tried to understand her, but I just couldn't; as a Nigerian neither as someone who has read a lot of broken characters. Marvellous and engrossing from beginning to end. Unigwe navigates points of view with the sureness and composure of a writer in her element as Nani’s raw and insistent voice drives the narrative’ SEFI ATTAa b Edoro, Ainehi (3 April 2023). "When a Character Really Needs a Happy Ending | Review of The Middle Daughter by Chika Unigwe". Brittle Paper . Retrieved 25 August 2023. Chika Unigwe’s modern retelling of the myth of Hades and Persephone is pitch perfect - it is a meditation on the need we all share for belonging, and family, and love; a commentary on the journey we must all take in search of freedom’ HELON HABILA The first line of the novel, “I fear the man who is my husband,” is bench-pressing so many thematic weights. It layers a sense of foreboding by piquing the reader’s curiosity and foreshadowing events connected to abuse. The story opens with news of Udodi’s death, the first daughter, who pursued higher education in the United States and crashed in an accident a week before her return to Enugu. After her death, the family is thrown into irreconcilable grief that feels impossible to escape. Unigwe writes, “Udodi’s death was the beginning of the raging storm but at that moment, we thought that the worst had already happened, and that life would treat us with more kindness.”

The Middle Daughter - Kindle edition by Unigwe, Chika The Middle Daughter - Kindle edition by Unigwe, Chika

I absolutely loved the bond between Nani and her father, very beautiful. And the courage of Nani. Walking away from abuse is never easy but confronting the abuser takes courage and she had it! As the story unravels, none of these characters can retrace their steps to how things used to be. “Even mother who used to carry church on her head no longer went.” First notes: I put in a request for a proof copy of this novel based on the synopsis and me wanting to read more varied works of fiction, so when I saw this novel was set in Africa, centered around family dynamic and touches upon delicate topics like abuse and manipulation, I asked if I could read it. Chika Unigwe’s novel The Middle Daughter centers a wealthy Nigerian family. The father owns a printing business, the mother is a doctor in the public health system and they have three daughters- one is currently in America studying and the other two attends a private school in Nigeria. They are a very happy family, filled with hope and happiness for the future… that is until one night they get a call from America that changes the trajectory of their family and upends life as they know it.The novel is based primarily in Enugu, with a few side scenes in the United States. Though these locations are central to the story, they add little to the story itself. In fact, I was left feeling like the author could have done a lot more to add color to the locations and help them come alive. A Climax That Fails to Impress

The Middle Daughter by Chika Unigwe Nani’s Mother in The Middle Daughter by Chika Unigwe

Chika Unigwe writes with a moral urgency nourished by a nuanced understanding of the human condition and a prose that is elegantly calibrated. And for all the dark turns her work takes, it is suffused with warmth, hard won wisdom and a deep compassion.” Chika says the novel was triggered by a true life story “where a young woman gets into the kind of relationship Nani does with Ephraim; and for similar reasons, I’m still rooting for that girl. I spoke about my desire for justice. I wanted to right the wrongs done to Persephone and give her a voice, make her in charge of her own story”. This book was apparently a modern reimagining of the myth of Hades and Persephone, but since I didn’t know that story like I thought I did, it was basically just a story about abuse. I’m sure there were parallels, but this does not, under any circumstances, feel like a myth or a retelling of a cultural myth. A modern reimagining of the myth of Hades and Persephone within a Nigerian family, The Middle Daughter charts Nani’s journey to freedom and homecoming. However, what persists in the unravelling of the Doda household aside from Ugo’s inability to take sides are the insistent questions: Did Mother do right or wrong? Is Nani right or wrong to remain with Ephraim? Is Ephraim a model father or an abusive husband? Should a mother choose love for children over her happiness?Final notes: The only thing that confused me a bit was the shift in perspectives. The chapters already clarify who’s view we’re seeing, but only Nani was told in the ‘I’ perspective. Nevertheless, the story was phenomenal, painful, but one everyone should try. Glad I got the arc :).