The Slave Girl: A Novel [Paperback]

Buchi Emecheta (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 17, 1980

"Her graphically detailed pictures of tribal life make the novel memorable."—Chicago Tribune

The Slave Girl follows the fortunes of Ogbanje Ojebeta, a Nigerian woman who is sold into slavery in her own land after disease and tragedy leave her orphaned as a child. In her fellow slaves, she finds a surrogate family that clings together under the unbending will of their master. As Ogbanje Ojebeta becomes a woman and discovers her need for home and family, and for freedom and identity, she realizes that she must ultimately choose her own destiny.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Miss Emecheta's prose has a shimmer of originality, of English being reinvented....Issues of survival lie inherent in her material and give her tales weight.” (John Updike - The New Yorker )

“Buchi Emecheta wrotes with a storyteller's flare. Her prose is vivid and simple as a stone carving.” (Houston Chronicle )

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: 180 pages
• Publisher: George Braziller Inc. (May 17, 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807609528
• ISBN-13: 978-0807609521
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #162,312 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars thought provoking, November 18, 2000

By 

Olumide Ogunremi - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Slave Girl: A Novel (Paperback)

Once again Ms Emecheta has written a thought provoking and captivating book about domestic slavery in Nigeria. The setting is in Nigeria in the early 20th Century and wound around significant events of the time such as the Influenza epidemic, Aba market women's riot,colonization and arrival of the missionaries. The heroine a young girl is sold into slavery by her own brother after the death of their parents in the influenze epidemic. The story details the twists and turns in her life while in bondage, her eventual return to her people and subsequent events.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and Realistic, August 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Slave Girl: A Novel (Paperback)

Though a novel, this tale shows the type of slavery that has continued to exist in Africa until very recently, and continues in some parts today. Emecheta presents a girl's predicament from a personal perspective, telling the reader both why slavery was seen as necessary and how it hurt this child. She also makes clear that this is a very different kind of slavery than that pictured by Americans. Well-written and only half fiction, this novel is a good read for anyone interested in West African culture.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful learning experience, January 27, 2009

By 

ohema "O2004" (NYC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Slave Girl: A Novel (Paperback)

This novel offers a more accurate narrative of African Identity. It charts the journey of a young girl from slavery to freedom, but more importantly it refutes a Western Fairytale ending. Instead the novel inserts its reader into the Igbo way of thinking and living, and their terms of a happy ending. I enjoyed this novel tremendously. It is a good read.