Under the Udala Trees (2015)

Under the Udala Trees is a novel by Nigerian-American author Chinelo Okparanta written in 2015. It is set in 1960s Nigeria and follows the story of Ijeoma, a girl growing up in war-torn Nigeria who must come to term with her sexuality and the conflict this presents in society.

The novel is told in a first person narrative from the protagonist's viewpoint, namely Ijeoma, and as such, the story is told with her voice and perspective.

Okparanta's mother had watched her father die in the same way during the Nigerian Civil War that the novel's protagonist sees her father die, linking with how Okparanta's own real life experience has informed her in the context of writing the novel.

The novel is Okparanta's first, following her short stories collection Happiness, Like Water (2013), and has received generally positive reception since its publication in 2015. In 2016, as part of the Annual Lambda Literary Awards, the novel won an award for "Best Lesbian Fiction".

Plot

The novel opens in 1960's Nigeria, following the tale of Ijeoma, a young girl who lives in a small town called Ojoto with her mother, Adaora, and father, Uzo, in the middle of the Nigerian Civil War.

Following an air raid at the start of the novel, Ijeoma and her mother Adaora escape unharmed but her father is killed. This leaves Ijeoma under Adaora's care. The death of Uzo has a profound effect on Adaora's mental health, sending her into a trance-like state. Ijeoma is reluctant to be separated due to the strong bond she has with her mother and her young age, but Adaora believes Nnewi will be safer for her.

Ijeoma is taken in by a schoolteacher and his wife in Nnewi. She meets a young Hausa orphan named Amina, who also moves in with the schoolteacher. The two girls fall in love, but when their relationship is discovered by the schoolteacher, he tells Adaora. A horrified Adaora takes Ijeoma to live with her in their home, while Amina remains with the schoolteacher. Ijeoma and Amina attend the same school and initially remain close, but their relationship slowly fizzles out. Amina later marries a Hausa boy.

Back home in Ojoto, Adaora makes it her goal to turn Ijeoma straight and preach (from the Bible) that homosexuality is wrong and that she must change (become heterosexual) to make it right. Adaora preaches that no lesbian relationship is right and that Ijeoma will feel the full force of God's wrath if she doesn't change her ways and end this lifestyle. Ijeoma is initially resistant to the strong influence exerted by her mother, but eventually succumbs to the power of the Bible and tries to change and live a heterosexual life.

While working at her mother's store, Ijeoma meets a female customer, Ndidi, who she begins a relationship with. An unaware Adaora tries to convince Ijeoma to date her childhood friend, Chibundu, who is interested in her. Although Ijeoma is initially disinterested, Ndidi suggests she marry him so she can live a normal life. In order to make her mother happy and fit in with heteronormative standards, Ijeoma marries Chibundu and they have a daughter together. Ijeoma sends Ndidi letters, but Ndidi never replies.

While Chibundu does not consider homosexuality a sin, he is unhappy that Ijeoma has not borne him a son. Their relationship deteriorates further after Chibundu finds a love letter Ijeoma had not sent to Ndidi, and Ijeoma realizes that Chibundu was hiding Ndidi's replies to her previous letters. Ijeoma leaves Chibundu and goes to her mother's house, taking her daughter with her.

The novel ends on a hopeful and more positive note. A few decades later, Ijeoma and Ndidi are still together, while Adaora has come to accept her daughter's homosexuality.

Characters

Source

Ijeoma: The young female protagonist of the novel and the voice of the first person narrative. She is sent away from her mother early in the novel to live in Nnewi with a grammar teacher which is reportedly safer for her. Ijeoma is lesbian and must come to terms with her sexuality in a homophobic society. While growing up as a young girl, she falls in love and enters two separate relationships with two other female characters in the novel, Amina and Ndidi, neither of which last as Ijeoma eventually succumbs to fierce backlash from her mother. She reluctantly marries a man later in the novel, Chibundu, and has a child with him to comply with heteronormativity. Ijeoma eventually divorces Chibundu after growing tired of living in a marriage with a man she genuinely doesn't love while Chibundu disapproves of Ijeoma's previous affection towards Ndidi when it comes to light, and Ijeoma subsequently then moves back in with Adaora.

Adaora: Ijeoma's mother. Shortly after her husband, Uzo, dies, she falls into a trance of following the Bible and its messages, which influences how she raises Ijeoma. Adaora preaching disapproval of Ijeoma's homosexuality and associated relationships with other females is her wanting to do what's 'right' for her daughter in terms of society, rather than attempting to be outright homophobic. Adaora becomes Chidinma's grandmother when she is born, and by the end of the novel, eventually accepts that Ijeoma's homosexuality is not able to be changed.

Uzo: Ijeoma's father. Killed in an airstrike at the start of the novel, an event which has mental health consequences for Adaora and pushes her to resort to the Bible for solace, a move which affects how she treats Ijeoma for the rest of the novel. Uzo's critical thinking skills displayed at the start of the novel, which Ijeoma herself inherits, and are vital for her to be able to critically reinterpret the bible herself and use this to eventually shut down the bible's oppressive power.