An humorous way to enlighten black women’s condition : Yinka, where is your Huzband ?, a review
Yinka, where is your huzband? is a novel written by the Nigerian author Lizzie Damilola Blackburn. It follows the story of Yinka, a british-nigerian woman in her thirties trying to make her way through society while dealing with relationship and work issues, all while her family is pressuring her to get married. I had the pleasure to read this novel and I hope that the review of the novel does justice to the message of the book.
The beginning of the story drastically puts us in the ambiance that the reader is going to feel throughout the book. Yinka is at her little sister’s baby shower and as they’re about to pray for the baby’s and mother’s safety through the pregnancy, Yinka and her sister’s mother starts praying out loud and begging for God to find a husband for her first daughter, cries of the other aunties immediately follows and Yinka gets immediately embarrassed, this first introduction of the characters is definitely one of a kind, putting the reader through a second-hand embarrassment make us reluctant but at the same time intrigued to see how things will go from there. I am sure that this passage was what got me hooked to read the rest of the book.
There are many things that I liked about Yinka, where is your huzband? One of them being the constant references to African – and more specifically Nigerian – culture. From the mention of food, music, churches and tradition… Even if the story is set in London, United Kingdom, the reader still gets a good feel of Yinka’s culture, and it helps us understand how it affected her life. The novel highlights the good aspects of Nigerian culture but also the “tarnished” one, as this being the main focus of the novel. Indeed, marriage culture is so ingrained in African cultures that a single woman or man in their late 20/30s is inherently looked down upon, people judge them and consider that they failed at life even if they succeeded in another field. Of course, there are exceptions (showcased by the character of Nana), but we are clearly able to see how this vision affected Yinka’s life. She constantly feels like she’s not doing enough, and blames herself for what’s currently happening in her life. And the people in her life are there to remind her that…
I felt that since the first chapter when Yinka abruptly got called out for being single and unmarried at her sister’s baby shower, everything went downhill from there and in various aspects such as her professional life and also her inner thoughts and how she perceives herself. But it was a nice ride throughout the book and there were definitely moments where I felt (and somehow related) to the protagonist’s feelings.
Black women, especially dark skin women, may relate and feel a certain connection to Yinka’s character. She is a thin, dark woman with very coily hair that lives in a society where the standard are people with fair skin or when it comes to black people, light skin women with a “slim thick” body type, colored eyes and very loose curls. So when Yinka and her boyfriend separated, it’s clear that it really affected her self confidence. When not perceived at the standard, people that find love tend to cling on to their significant other’s vision of themselves, therefore, a breakup can be a hassle and completely destroy somebody’s confidence. And unfortunately, this happens with many black women that do not view themselves as “pretty” or “enough”. The novel accentuates the importance of self discovery in order to live a more healthy life regarding relationships with other people but also ourselves.
I definitely think that Yinka, where is your huzband is a great book therefore I would recommend it, it’s simple with a not-so complicated vocabulary but also has deepness in the story and teaches you a very important lesson.
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