La Bastarda

Billed as the first novel by an Equatorial Guinean woman to be translated into English, I was already interested. Then I saw that it was published by Feminist Press, and about an orphaned teen searching for identity in her rigid culture -- well, I hit pre-order immediately, scarce book budget be

Show More

damned. And I had to read it as soon as it arrived.

Okomo's choices in life are extremely limited. Her mother died while giving birth, so she lives with her grandfather, his two wives, and many of their offspring. She is forbidden from knowing who her father is. Now that she's reached the age of menses, she's supposed to be interested in two things: hairdos and makeup, so that she can attract a man and procreate.

Meanwhile, mysterious possibilities exist in the margins, even if at first Okomo doesn't really understand what they are or what makes them indecent -- her uncle, described as a man-woman, and Dina, who goes everywhere with two other girls, spending lots of time in the forest and seeming to possess secret knowledge.

For a long while it seems that all of these characters who refuse to fall in with the restrictive norms of Fang culture and destined to be crushed by them. And there is a moment when everything looks bleak for them. But the story doesn't stop there. Instead, they all take a long, deep look at the toxicity of the culture that is trying to stomp them into place -- and reject it themselves. While their solution isn't a utopia, it's affirming that in the end they refuse to compromise on who they are.

Show Less