Review: In Dependence by Sarah Ladipo Manyika

Title: In Dependence
Author: Manyika, Sarah Ladipo
Length: 320 pages
Genre: Fiction, General
Publisher / Year: Legend Press / 2008
Source: Amazon Kindle store
Rating: 5/5
Why I Read It: I had already picked it up just from seeing it on my ‘you might like this’ list on Amazon, but was especially intrigued by reading Kinna’s review of the title last November.
Date Read: 21/04/11

I have to start, as other reviewers have, with the beginning sentences of the novel:

One could begin with the dust, the heat and the purple bougainvillea. One might even begin with the smell of rotting mangos tossed by the side of the road where the flies hummed and green-bellied lizards bobbed their orange heads while loitering in the sun. But Tayo did not notice these – instead he walked in silence, oblivious to his surroundings.

This beginning, I think, beautifully illustrates what is to come in the novel. Manyika has written a beautiful and captivating love story that is at once a simple story and at the same time stunningly complex. The novel covers the span of four decades and takes place in Nigeria, in Britain, in Senegal, and in the United States. At heart it is the story of a young British woman and a young Nigerian man at Oxford college who fall in love, and their lives which fall together and apart through the decades. It is, of course, much more than that.

Through this novel and the story of Tayo and Vanessa’s relationship we see the racism that existed in Britain and the ways that it impacted their relationship. Vanessa’s father was a colonial official in Nigeria before that country’s independence and so we also get to see both sides (from her father and from his father) of the colonial period. Through his struggles and work we see more of Nigeria’s past and present and the military rule there.

Manyika has done, I think, a fantastic job of portraying many of the insecurities and doubts that can plague relationships, especially when the partners come from such different cultures. Through the character of Vanessa we also see the interplay of white’s working in and writing about Africa and how there are different opinions and even different ways that this can be done – some more or less damaging than others. The relationship is completely believable and bittersweet and so perfectly written, but imperfectly executed. Their regrets and feelings last a lifetime.

The story is full of the social issues and complexities that occurred through the decades – Nigeria’s struggles to come to itself and its multiple issues of failed leaderships and coups and the continuing repression, the racism of England, the apartheid of South Africa, and more. Tayo and his mates at school are constantly discussing these issues and Vanessa as well plays a big part in the discussions of and railings against the complex happenings of the times. I especially loved how Tayo’s staying in Nigeria illustrated both the brain drain and the repression so well.

A fantastic book that I can’t even begin to do justice to, but that I fully expect will grace my best of list at the end of this year. I highly recommend it to everyone and anyone looking for a fantastic story.