The Bride Price: A Novel [Paperback]

Buchi Emecheta (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 17, 1980

A Nigerian girl is allowed to finish her education because a diploma will enhance her bride price, but she then rebels against traditional marriage customs.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An artless story about a young Nigerian girl who has to leave Lagos and go back to her mother's family village after her father dies. There she and her young schoolteacher fall in love, but she is kidnapped into marrying someone else, and a scandal arises from the lies she tells her kidnapper about her loss of virginity in order to escape him. Nevertheless her lover rescues her and they live happily until she dies in childbirth, confirming the tradition that a dowryless bride will not survive. Emecheta as in Second-Class Citizen (1975), explicitly fills in her lessons about the clash between modernization and tribal residues in the 1950's. Particular twists crop up when it is a WWII wound that kills the girl's father, and an Esso-built hut that the young couple is so delighted to move into. But the book remains a fairy tale, written with a certain genuine sweetness, offering nothing that would disturb - or especially challenge - an adolescent reader. (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Born of Ibo parents in Nigeria, Buchi Emecheta is widely known for her multilayered stories of black women struggling to maintain their identity and construct viable lives for themselves and their families. She writes, according to The New York Times, with "subtlety, power, and abundant compassion." Her numerous novels include The Slave Girl, The Family, Bride Price, and The Joys of Motherhood.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: George Braziller, Inc. (May 17, 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080760951X
• ISBN-13: 978-0807609514
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #659,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A funny, romantic, full-of-culture classic!, February 15, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Bride Price (African Writers) (Hardcover)

Nigerian books are not exactly what one would call "popular" with a Western audience, but when books like "The Bride Price" are available, it is very hard to understand why. "the Bride Price" is a touching story of a young girl Akun-na, and her family. After her fathers death Akun-na must fight a sexist society in order to be with her own true love, Chike. The author Emecheta is a sociologist, and this comes out in the novel. Varous parts of Nigerian culture are shown to us poignantly and concisely. The book is written for a Western audience and comes across clearly. It is an excellent read for those wishing to learn about African culture, and should perhaps be on a required book list for highschoolers. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a short, funny, romantic classic

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Bride Price, January 24, 2000

By 

Shane Fitzgerald - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bride Price: A Novel (Paperback)

The "Bride Price" by Buchi Emecheta is an informative insight into the culture, traditions and history of the Nigerian peoples and as a whole, is well served as an introduction to the rich customs and heritages of Africans. I must admit that the ending, while it was not necessarily suprising, was a bit disappointing and seemed to sort of fizzle out. While the over-all theme that I detected, that being the inability of the African people to remove themselves from their cultures, families and religious and secular traditions (not that such is desirable), regardless of lingering influence from Western domination, was in a sense captured by Emecheta's choice of an ending, although I feel it could have perhaps been handeled better, with more of a twist. However, in ultimate value this novel is a easy and enjoyable read, with an, at times captivating story line that is deeply intertwined, once again in the culture and traditions of the African and specifically Nigerian people.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE BRIDE PRICE, October 13, 2006

By 

Ije ndi oma "AFRIQ" (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bride Price: A Novel (Paperback)

The Bride Price by Buchi Emecheta, conclusively provides a story for one of the mose entrenched igbo tradition, the bride price. As a female from Igboland, i am quite aware of the enormous significance of that custom and the concequences it has for any female who chooses to neglect or abandon it. Indeed Emecheta's story draws you in from inception and allows you to be a part of the protagonist's story. At the end of the story, you feel as if returning from a great cultural expedition and you are immensley disconcerted about the power of superstitions and of customs on situated individuals. Emecheta deserves all the credit for telling this powerful story with both unbridled style and grace.