The Son of the House

De: Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia

Narrado por: Nene Nwoko

The lives of two Nigerian women divided by class and social inequality intersect when they're kidnapped, held captive, and forced to await their fate together.

In the Nigerian city of Enugu, young Nwabulu, a housemaid since the age of ten, dreams of becoming a typist as she endures her employers' endless chores. She is tall and beautiful and in love with a rich man's son.

Educated and privileged, Julie is a modern woman. Living on her own, she is happy to collect the gold jewelry lovestruck Eugene brings her, but has no intention of becoming his second wife.

When a kidnapping forces Nwabulu and Julie into a dank room years later, the two women relate the stories of their lives as they await their fate.

Pulsing with vitality and intense human drama, Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia's debut is set against four decades of vibrant Nigeria, celebrating the resilience of women as they navigate and transform what remains a man's world.

Contains mature themes.

©2019 Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia; illustration copyright Costus spectabilis by Matilda Smith. Plate from Curtis’s Botanical Magazine, 1905 Royal Tour Nigeria: Brian Brake; photographer; January 1956; Lagos (used by permission of the Museum of New Zealand) (P)2022 Tantor

African women carry so much - satisfying read

Set in Nigeria, a beautiful African story of two women whose paths cross in the most mind blowing unexpected way. A young girl who’s lost her parents and left with a terrible stepmother becomes a Maid, dealing with physical and sexual abuse. Falls in love and gets pregnant out of ignorance. Goes back home to the same stepmother abuse and forced to marry a dead man so that the “mother in law” can take the child. Another woman who marries out of her mom’s manipulation to a man she doesn’t live, fakes being pregnant to trap the man but then she cannot conceive. A well written, amazingly narrated story that carries all the troubles of African women. I wish the happy ending was spelled out 😅 but it’s a better ending creatively I know. 4.5/5

African women carry so much pain and quite frankly so much NONSENSE (I don’t have the grace to come up with a more diplomatic word right now, just facts). But like it unfolds in the book, we also emerge as victorious, fearless warriors. Build strength and resilience from all these ridiculous expectations that society puts on us. We build so much from nothing and carry it all with so much grace and poise!!!! Eyhhh 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾

A beautiful Piece

Such a real and relatable story! Well written! Nene Nwoko is as awesome as always, an amazing narrator! The Igbo culture and their traditions are almost annoying.

Beautiful story

Loved it. Well written and interesting story. The sacrifices a mother makes for her children.

Loved the story and the narrator!

For once, we have a narrator who reads in the correct accent of the characters!

I loved this very moving story! The characters were well developed and the reader gets to journey through the life of Nwabulu and Julie, witnessing their ups and downs, their joys and sorrows over years and decades, the unlikely friendship that eventually led to unearthing of long secrets, and an unexpected bond.

The ending keeps the reader in suspense but overall, it was a great read!

Amazing story

it was a great story and I finished it in one day. the narrator did a great job with pronunciation

very hard to stop listening

My first time listening to this author and I am glad I picked it! Very unique story! Well written and narrated! Top 10 of my favorite books!

Beautiful and Conscious Narrative performance

Thanks for the conscious of getting a narrator with an Igbo experience.
The book is heart-wrenching and brings to the fore what it truly means to be called a parent as well as Igbo society's immense of having a male heir to carry on the family legacy.

Phenomenal narrator!!!

One of the best audiobooks I have listened to! Fabulous, authentic, completely wonderful narrator to a gripping and sad but all to true Nigerian story of indomitable women. Well written. Well read. The pace and all the pieces coming together at the end was stellar. GREAT LISTEN!

Added to favourites

The book started off a bit slow, but once I got into it, I couldn't stop listening. It also helps that the narrator was good.

The two protagonists, Julie and Nwabulu, are beautifully written. The characters are balanced—not too unrealistic but incredibly human. I also love the character development of both characters. This is a book you feel and experience.

The author is a good storyteller, and I like her writing style. The book covers themes that are common in an African context: sexual abuse, physical abuse, infidelity, and bad marriages. It also depicts friendship in a beautiful way and the positive or negative role friends can play in our lives.