Ijeoma comes of age as her nation
does. Born before independence, she is eleven when civil war breaks
out in the young republic of Nigeria. Sent away to safety, she meets
another displaced child and they, star-crossed, fall in love. They
are from different ethnic communities. They are also both girls. But
when their love is discovered, Ijeoma learns that she will have to
hide this part of herself--and there is a cost to living inside a
lie.
Inspired by Nigeria's folktales and
its war, Chinelo Okparanta shows us, in "graceful and precise"
prose (New York Times Book Review), how the struggles and divisions
of a nation are inscribed on the souls of its citizens. "Powerful
and heartbreaking, Under
the Udala Trees is a
deeply moving commentary on identity, prejudice, and forbidden love."
(BuzzFeed).