Buchi Emecheta - Joys of Motherhood

I gave a male friend this book, after I had read it. People in the elevator were puzzled at a man carrying a book with so ominous a title but I do recall a commentator musing that every son should spare some time to read  Echemeta's  'Joys of Motherhood'.   The book is better read by the children so that they might understand the sacrifices that their mothers go through to ensure that they have a better living.  The title reminded me of the famous African saying 'things are not what they seem' - Satire and Irony are its hallmark.

I stumbled upon Echemeta quite by chance as I googled for African writers. I was regaled by her writing style and was particularly impressed to read her book twice. As a daughter of a mother and a mother of children, I cannot help but be saddened by the tales in the book.

As my mum approaches her 70th birthday this February 2012, I cannot help wondering whether she, like the protagonist in Echemeta's book, has experienced the true joys of motherhood. Not like the stories in Echemeta's book but true fulfilment from having me and my siblings as her children. Brigadier John Profumo's wife is quoted to have famously said that 'Joy is not measured just by lovely things...'.  Incase you might need reminding on who John Profumo was, I permit myself the pleasure of digressing to explain that it is oft said of the 5th Baron Profumo, that he was instrumental  in bringing down the government of the day through a costly error of judgement.  It is not so much the brigadier's story that intrigued me but more his wife's pragmatic reaction to it.

Mothers nurture their children and bear a lot for them and as the Bible quips...'can a mother abandon her child?'  This indeed is a loaded question and though there might be some mothers who might be forced by unfortunate circumstances to abandon their young, the scenario would be the exception rather than the rule. It is said of Lions - the male to be precise - that they eat their younger cubs to ensure less competition in the pride should the cubs come of age.  But most mothers in the animal kingdom are very protective of their young and  there must be a reason for it.


So I do hope that one truth that can be held to be self evident is that there is some penultimate joy in the act of motherhood.


Femme Noire! Femme Africaine! Et Toi Ma Mère - Camara Layé.