Title: Daughters Who Walk This Path
Author: Yejide Kilanko
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
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It’s been a couple of days since I read this book (all in one go because it was that good), and I’ve not been able to stop thinking about it. It was a really powerful tale of girlhood, womanhood, relationships between mothers and daughters, and also of generational silence.
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I’ve had my eyes on this book for months, and when my copy arrived, I couldn’t wait to dive in. It was well worth the wait. I laughed, I cried, and I was triggered by many parts of this book. Yejide Kilanko did a great job of weaving so many elements together, and over such a long period of time.
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We’re introduced to the MC, Morayo, when she’s just five years old, and we follow her through her life till she’s well in her 30s. The book is divided into 5 parts, with all parts except one focused on Morayo. One of the 5 parts is focused on Aunty Morenike, and we’re able to get an in-depth look into her story.
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There were so many themes discussed, and I loved how the author dealt with them. This is a Nigerian book set in Ibadan, so it was really great to read all the names, places, foods, and events that I could relate with, especially the election subplot.
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This book evoked so many raw feelings in me, and at so many points, I wanted to enter the book and fight so many people. We got to see a comparison of two mothers when faced with similar situations. She also explored the harm that’s brought about by the refusal of parents to be straight forward with children about sex and sexual activities.
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I 100% recommend this book to everyone.
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Blurb:
SPIRITED AND INTELLIGENT, MORAYO grows up surrounded by school friends and family in busy, modern-day Ibadan. An adoring little sister, their traditional parents, and a host of aunties and cousins make Morayo’s home their own. So there’s nothing unusual about her charming but troubled cousin Bros T moving in with the family. At first Morayo and her sister are delighted, but in her innocence, nothing prepares Morayo for the shameful secret Bros T forces upon her.
Thrust into a web of oppressive silence woven by the adults around her, Morayo must learn to protect herself and her sister from a legacy of silence shared by the women in her family. Only her Aunt Morenike provides Morayo with a safe home and a sense of female community that sustains her as she develops into a young woman in bustling, politically charged, often violent Nigeria.
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