Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions by Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi

Finally, this collection gets bonus points for being very Afrocentric in its attempt to explore stories from home vis-à-vis the peculiarities of moving away from home to another country.

Synopsis

Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions: A Novel in Interlocking Stories is a delectable short story collection that spans years, decades, and generations. All the stories are interconnected and revolve around the lives, friendships, and collective losses of four women: Aisha, Nonso, Remi, and Solape.

Setting

A couple of things made this a memorable read for me. The first one is that the opening story is set in colonial Aniocha, Delta state, at a time when it was standard practice for a woman to marry another woman for specific reasons and ends with a story set between a fictional Nigerian city and the United States in the year 2050.

This was pretty remarkable because I think that as it is with music albums, curation is everything in short story collections, and moving from historical fiction to contemporary fiction and finishing with a futurist one, in the way that she did it, was brilliant.

In addition, because each story is set in a different time, written from a different point of view, and interrogates its own peculiar issues, each story can be read and enjoyed as a standalone if, for some reason one prefers to treat them as such.

Thoughts

Omolola is an incredible storyteller with an evident appreciation of the beauty of the rich cultural diversity in Nigeria, which is reflected mightily in the stories she tells and how she tells them.

I couldn’t help but relish that various Nigerian culinary delicacies were mentioned and, in some cases, used to imbibe and evoke memories of home in the characters, whether they found themselves at home or abroad.

Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions is an inherently feminist collection. I particularly loved that most of the stories featured some very opinionated female characters of various ages who were very aware of their power and did not hesitate to use it in the face of some very challenging situations that threatened to silence their will.

Finally, this collection gets bonus points for being very Afrocentric in its attempt to explore stories from home vis-à-vis the peculiarities of moving away from home to another country.

If you enjoy reading dark stories that end on a hopeful note, this is right up your alley.

For further reading on the practice of female husbands in traditional Igbo society, I recommend Male Daughters, Female Husbands, Gender and Sex in An African Society by Ifi Amadiume.

If you would like to check out more novel-in-stories, here are some I have enjoyed reading in the past Pleasantview by Celeste Mohammed, Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia, and If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery.