A Critical Review of Chika Unigwe’s Novel – Night Dancer

ACritical Review of Chika Unigwe’s Novel – Night Dancer provided an opportunity to transverse into the fictional world of a bold, brash whose mother refused to discuss her past.

The character was in search of several questions that beg for answers from her mother. A sure is worthy of any critical readers’ time.

”  I 
wonder who came up with that: the truth will set you free. Nonsense! The truth is many things. It can do many things. But the truth does not always liberate, does it? It is self-serving and sometimes causes harm………………….. The truth has no hiding place, they say. I say it can stay hidden and not cause harm. I never wanted the truth! I could have done without knowing it. Ignorance is bliss, is it not? There is more truth in that than in everything we have ever been told about the truth.”

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Title: Night Dancer
Author’s Name: Chika Unigwe
Genre: Fiction
Number of Pages: 263
Year of Publication: 2011
Publisher: Origami
An imprint of Parrèsia publishers.
⭐⭐⭐/5

“Mma has just buried her mother, and now she is alone.
She has been left everything.
But she’s also inherited her mother’s bad name.

A bold, brash woman, the only thing her mother refused to discuss was her past. Why did she flee her family and bring her daughter to a new town when she was a baby? What was she escaping from?

Abandoned now, Mma does not know her father or her family – but she is desperate to find out.

Night Dancer is a powerful and moving novel about the relationship between mothers and daughters, about the bonds of family, about knowing when to fulfil your duty, and when you must be brave enough not to. Presenting a vista of Nigeria over the past half-century, it is a vibrant and heartfelt exploration of one woman’s search for belonging.”

Written in three parts, Night Dancer By Chika Unigwe is the story of three women – Ezi, Mma, and Rapu- whose lives are inextricably interwoven.

Part one begins in 2001. We meet Mma who is struggling with all the negative emotions and resentment she feels towards her late mother.

Infact, one gets the distinct feeling that she is relieved that her mother is dead and she can now live her life and chart her path, devoid of the shadow of her mother’s nasty reputation.

The story starts off right after Mma buries her mom Ezi, and is being reprimanded for not giving her mother a befitting burial, even though she died a rich woman, leaving the bulk of her wealth for Mma to inherit.

A Critical Review of Chika Unigwe’s Novel – Night Dancer

Between conversations with her mother’s best friend- Mama Gold, and the letters her mother left her, Mma discovers some aspects of her mother’s life that were unknown to her.

Part two introduces Rapu, giving a brief history of her life before she came to Mike and Ezi, and the sequence of events that resulted in her upstaging Ezi as the “Madam” of the house.

And the third part brings us back to 2002 when Mma meets her father- Mike, his other family with Rapu and begins to develop an appreciation for her mother, and the choices she made.

The title was a bit misleading though. I couldn’t see any connection between the plot of the story, any of the characters and the title. I mean, who was the ‘Night Dancer’? Was it Ezi, Mma or Rapu?

A Critical Review of Chika Unigwe’s Novel – Night Dancer

I couldn’t relate to Mma’s character much because there was no real depth to her and so I found it difficult to connect with her, but I loved Ezi’s character.

She was a strong woman who took on society at a time when the stigma against single motherhood was at an all-time high.

She lived a defiant life on her terms without apologizing for it.

Night Dancer is a book that shows the double standards of our society when it comes to issues of infidelity.

It highlights the ridiculous expectations placed on a woman, what she should do, how she should act and not act, how she should shrug it off and forgive when her husband is caught pants down cheating.

After all, “men are polygamous in nature”, and what happens to women who defy these societal expectations and go against the set order.

Below are three of my favourite quotes from the Night Dancer:

“But sometimes, it is not the thing that we fear most that crush us but that which we have forgotten to fear.”

“Sometimes in life, we have to take a stand. It does not help to sit on the fence, even if we have to hurt the people we love-love. That is what I want you to remember. If I have taught you anything, I want it to be that”.

“Blood is thicker than water you hear. Ha! Let me tell you, some blood flows thinner. And some water as thick as sludge”.

Have you read Night Dancer? What did you think of it? Do let me know what you think of it.

A Critical Review of Chika Unigwe’s Novel – Night Dancer