Novaryam
She graduated with a First Class.
She believed that would be enough.
So did her widowed mother.
So did the neighbours who celebrated her success as though poverty had finally packed its bags.
But Lagos had other plans.
Four years after graduation, Omotola's degree is gathering dust, hospital bills are piling up, her mother's health is failing, and three younger siblings are looking to her for the miracle everyone promised education would bring.
Every rejection tests her resolve.
Every new day demands another sacrifice.
When an unexpected job offer finally gives her a way forward, Tola discovers that survival is only the beginning. In a world where ambition comes with hidden costs, loyalty is tested, love arrives when she's least prepared for it, and success demands more than hard work, she'll have to decide how much of herself she's willing to give before she finally starts living for herself.
Beholden is a deeply emotional Nigerian contemporary novel about resilience, family, ambition, love, betrayal, and the quiet strength of first daughters who carry everyone else's dreams while struggling to protect their own.