Harmattan Rain follows the lives of three women: crone, mother, and girl, with the backdrop being the political scene around Ghana's independence.
Lizzie Achiaa, the fore bearer, restless and ambitious, sets out from the confinement of home in search of greener pastures, and while she builds a reputable life for herself, is all she has only a mimicry of what could have been?
Akua Afiriye, the firebrand artist whose promising future was suddenly cut short by teenage pregnancy, settles for the mundane, a sacrifice she made for her daughter. Here's where I have to credit the Mensah family as depicted in this book, as they're really loving and accepting people. The support they gave their daughter is not one commonly seen.
Sugri; honestly, I don't understand the direction and relevance of her story to this book. I do know she's a good student with well-hidden daddy issues.
In Harmattan Rain, it felt like the author plied her readers with unnecessary things in the book and forgot about the main “Babasam” plot. She got to the end, remembered, and quickly inserted it at the last minute into the book.
As such, Harmattan Rain thoroughly lacked the necessary verve. I'd have loved to see more of Babasam throughout the book, not just at the beginning and at the end.
Usually, when a transgenerational story is told, there's usually something connecting the women or people as it may be, such as it is with books like Kintu, Homegoing, and Pachinko.
But in this case, we just see the mundane life of three women, and you keep waiting for the plot twist to arrive, which never does, and then you see the thoroughly disappointing conclusion.
Akua Afiriye's story arc started off great but went downhill after she got pregnant. I kept expecting it to pick up, and from the initial impression I had of her, I expected her life to have been the most interesting.
While I must commend the author's writing style, I honestly think it was all that kept me going. Harmattan Rain had lots of potential that the author threw away.
Even the title doesn't quite hit home. With books like Stay With Me and A Spell of Good Things, you get to a certain point where the title finally makes sense. On the other hand, with Harmattan Rain, we only see a few lines hurriedly put together that don't seem well thought out.
In all, Harmattan Rain is a beautifully written book that gives great insight into Ghana's independence from colonial rule, but not the characters themselves.
Not a memorable read for me, but you can try it.
