Just as a contemporary novel, We Were Girls Once does not eliminate itself from the goings-on in the society in which it is set. The novel fearlessly paints a picture of Nigeria. In the past, Civil War and Military coups; in the present, corruption, godfatherism, religious commercialisation, gender-based violence, and police brutality.
By Evidence Egwuono Adjarho
Halfway through Tomorrow I Become a Woman— Aiwanose Odafen’s debut novel—I struggled to contain my anger, often directed at the characters, the author, or society itself, due to the horrific experiences faced by the female characters. However, upon finishing, the grim reality depicted in the book hit me profoundly, leaving me with a sense of sadness. Her sophomore work, We Were Girls Once, is similarly impactful.
We Were Girls Once serves as a sequel to Tomorrow I Become a Woman, focusing on the lives of Ego, Zina, and Eriife, the daughters of Uju, Chinelo, and Adaugo from the first book. It explores their journey of growth as they transition from girls to women.
Ego, Uju’s daughter, is a lawyer in the UK, enjoying a sense of fulfillment in her career. However, a walk through her past unveils personal trauma and repressed memories, particularly the painful memories of her abusive father and her helpless mother. She finds herself constantly reminded of the past she wishes to forget, compelling her to return home in search of self-discovery and reconciliation with her history.
Similarly, Zina, the daughter of Chinelo, has chosen to forget her past. As a successful actress in the industry, she defies her parents’ wishes for her to marry after school and carves out her own life, separate from her family. But even this new sense of accomplishment cannot fill the vacuum caused by ostracising herself.
In sharp contrast to Zina and Ego is Eriife, a medical doctor and the daughter of Adaugo, who navigates life in a different manner. She faces the profound loss of her mother at an early age and grapples with the challenge of forgiving her father for remarrying. Eriife meets Soye, a young activist, and her relationship with him not only drags her into the dirty game of politics but also requires her to take drastic actions even against her friends.
We Were Girls Once is divided into three parts, each focusing on one of the protagonists—Ego, Zina, and Eriife. This tripartite structure reflects the three seemingly similar but distinct lives they lead. Through the first-person perspective, we closely follow the protagonists through the stages of their lives and see how they have experienced life in different ways. As such, we no longer view them from the lens of their mothers as girls, arguably the sense in which the title of the book emerges.
Yet the reader immediately encounters a difficulty with this structure. While one character shares their story, the others are effectively put on hold, taking a backseat where we only learn about them through the narrator’s perspective.
Odafen seems to consider the fact that readers may have forgotten some details from the first book no doubt. This, to an extent, explains why the novel oscillates from the past to the present. It recounts not only the girls’ stories—their past and present—but also their mothers’ narratives, tracing their histories leading to the present. While this approach aids in understanding the events of the novel, the flashbacks can become redundant. At times, it feels unnecessary to retell the same story from the first book, particularly when the only variation lies in who is narrating it.
In one of her Q&A sessions, Aiwanose Odafen mentions her excitement for readers to meet the new characters and view the old ones with a new lens. But she does not explain what ‘new lens’ means. It felt like the new lens was making readers hate the characters we had once loved in the first book. And it worked. In Tomorrow I Become a Woman, I admired the friendship among Uju, Adaugo, and Chinelo. However, in the sequel, Chinelo—Zina’s mother—unexpectedly assumes a role similar to Uju’s oppressive mother, making life almost unbearable for her daughter.
Despite this, one can deduce an important message. It is pretty easy to call people out on their wrongs. However, we are often a reflection of the things we strongly criticize. And when given the opportunity, we do the same things, or sometimes worse.
The characters in the book are revealed gradually as the novel progresses. This is a remarkable element of suspense and adds a layer of unpredictability to the narrative. As the narrative progresses, layer by layer, we uncover broken daughters carrying deep personal traumas—ranging from physical and sexual abuse, and even mental assault.
Just as a contemporary novel, We Were Girls Once does not eliminate itself from the goings-on in the society in which it is set. The novel fearlessly paints a picture of Nigeria. In the past, Civil War and Military coups; in the present, corruption, godfatherism, religious commercialisation, gender-based violence, and police brutality.
It is in this regard that I find Odafen’s second book more relatable than her first.
There is a renewed sense of hope as the novel draws to an end and a reminder of the ephemerality of time through Eriife’s step-daughter, and Zina’s mother, Chinelo. I had looked forward to this book but reading it has left me with more questions unanswered, and some important details unresolved. The ending felt rushed, compared to other parts of the novel which was slow-paced. This leaves me with the single assumption that the author plans to write a third book although I do not know yet whether I am as enthused.
Aiwanose Odafen highlights both human flaws and the enduring strength of friendship in We Were Girls Once. Through the characters of Ego, Zina, and Eriife, the novel reminds us that, despite the depth of the damage, healing is always possible.
Evidence Egwuono Adjarho is a Gen-Z who loves God. She believes strongly in the power of African literature and spends her time amplifying it through book reviews. When she is not writing, reading or thinking of creative ways to spread the gospel of books, she is simply living in her world. She is an undergraduate studying English at the University of Lagos.