TITLE: REVIEW ESSAY.
TOPIC: DAUGHTERS WHO WALK THIS PATH
“The enemy lurks in the courtyard, the evildoer lives in the home”. (Chapter four, page thirty-seven).
Nearly sixty percent of women in Africa are victims of sexual abuse. Most of them live with the trauma for the rest of their lives while, some, heal. Yejide Kilanko, author of 'Daughters Who Walk This Path' is a therapist in children's mental health. She glaringly faces the misconception people tend to have towards abuse and also, explores the depths of human depravity in her novel. The dystopian novel, 'Daughters Who Walk This Path', is a look into the severity of abuse on the human mind.
Published in the United States by Penguin books in 2013, Yejide Kilanko who was born in Nigeria in the 1970s, explores the protagonist, Morayo Balogun's dismal childhood in Ibadan Oyo state, Nigeria.
'Daughters Who Walk This Path' is an inside look at what goes on in the African society. It answers the question of what it is like to be born in a typical Nigerian home.
Yejide Kilanko's 'Daughters Who Walk This Path' is an engrossing and compelling book. She describes the experiences of most women in Africa while acknowledging the aftermath of sexual abuse portrayed in Morayo's story.
The story begins with Morayo's childhood. She is an enlivened being who sees the world in bright and hopeful eyes. She loves watching the trains but, knows better than to think of boarding them. This signifies the wisdom she tends to have at her age. She has so much expected of her at a tender age, one of them being the sole defender of her sister, Eniayo who is an albino. Life in the house of Mr and Mrs Balogun revolves around ethics and morals.
A grave like undercurrent comes up in chapter four of the novel when her cousin, Tayo comes to live with them for the second time. A premonition manifests itself as she falls ill making her unable to go with her mother and sister to a wedding. Hence, leaving her with Bros T, her cousin.
The book reaches it's climax when she is assaulted by him and threatened into silence. In the succeeding chapters, Morayo is seen confiding in her aunt, Morenike who is also a victim of abuse. Resolution is reached when she finds peace and happiness in her childhood love, Kachi.
Although Yejide's 'Daughters Who Walk This Path' answers many questions, it invites even more. Why for instance is the society loyal to corrupt leaders amidst their selfish and corrupt ways?. Why was Bros T taken to his mother without due punishment?. This question is a rattling one.
Despite all these questions, it is hard not to love the way Kilanko acquits her readers from the start to the end of the book. However, there are some noted weaknesses. The birth of Eniayo portrayed a boisterous character but she was of little significance. She did nothing to help her sister when she noticed the predicament her sister was in. Though she was a flat character, more action would have made her more desirable. Also, Morayo turning from a victim to a campus slut is quite appalling. This will give the reader a wrong impression that being a victim of abuse is a license for being a hussy.
Nevertheless, the book provides a valuable and absorbing window into feminism. Kilanko urges women to be feminists and be encouragers of their fellow women as the case of Morayo and her aunt, Morenike. Morenike and her mother, Mummy Ibeji and Mama Omu her grandmother. It also shows the readers the importance of communication among parents and their children and also, the significance of proper upbringing.
'Daughters Who Walk This Path' may have its weaknesses but its lessons, and the hope it gives to African women around the world is almost archetypal.
