Nnu Ego

Nnu Ego is the novel’s central character and protagonist. Its central themes, exploring the experiences of both motherhood and womanhood, play out within the context of her life and history – that is, the life she lives and the lives of her parents. Their influence, both biological and cultural, play key roles in how Nnu Ego sees who she is, how she is expected to live, and what she becomes.

Nnu Ego is strong willed and determined, focused both on living life on her own terms and on being the kind of wife and mother that her heritage and the traditions of her community demand that she be. This can easily be seen as contradictory, perhaps to the point of being paradoxical, and this sense of contradiction is a driving, defining component of Nnu Ego’s life. She has her own ideas of how things need to...