IFEOMA OKOYE suddenly began to carve a niche
for herself in the early 80s (almost 40 years ago) in African literature with
the publication of two novels: Behind the
Clouds (1982) and Men Without Ears
(1984)
It was clear from the
beginning that the author was a competent writer . Her works also had the stamp
of integrity, balance, and moral restraint.
No wonder she was well received from the beginning and likened to
established literary female icons like Flora Nwapa and Buchi Emecheta.
In recent times, OKOYE
is essentially regarded as an illustrious writer for children, and for her
short stories. Certainly her collection, The trial and other stories, further
augmented her lofty standing in the world of creative writing.
For decades she has been
warmly embraced and respected for her dedication to quality versatile writing,
her penchant for marmoreal writing as she is regarded among other things as a
prose stylist in her own right.
"It warms the
cockles to see Ma Ifeoma Okoye, a grand lady writer, still with us, like the legendary Mabel
Segun" reviewer Henry Ozogula has said. (Mabel Segun is over 90 now,
whilst Okoye is in her 80s)
A contemporary (female)
book enthusiast, Lupna Avery has written about Okoye thus, whilst focusing on
her first novel, Behind the Clouds:
‘ The plight of African
women...over the decades, centuries in Africa. Our outstanding writers have
shown that it has always been pretty bad, horrendous (since) many years ago.
..It is not so different in this early book written by one of Nigeria and
Africa's top female writers.
The main female
character in Behind the Clouds, Ije, is in a relationship where she has to
endure a lot though her man, Dozie, is a relatively good man under the
circumstances. But the fine qualities of the woman make her outstanding, and it
is so painful when she proves to be "barren", though it is actually
the fault of the man. Ije pulls out all the stops to make her man happy, though
of course he would go on to betray her and bring another woman into their
lives. It is so poignant when it gets to the stage where a close friend,
Beatrice, strongly advises Ije to seek the help of "faith healer Apostle
Joseph" who would unfailingly sleep with her and make her pregnant!
We are aghast when we
read: "Ije...(my new baby) is Apostle Joseph 's". Ije was shocked.
"You don't mean
it!..." And Beatrice with the weight of society on her neck, responds:
"I do and I don't regret my action. My infidelity has saved my marriage...
at least I'll have a child who will look after me in old age. A childless woman
in our society does not realise the extent of her handicap until she grows
old..."
Note that Ije does get
to somewhat smile in the end, but in real life it seems unrealistic ...hence
the plight of our women even now surely lingers on...’
IFEOMA OKOYE: Select
Bibliography
Behind the Clouds
Men Without Ears
The Trial and other Stories
The Fourth Wall
