Excerpt from Daughters who walk this path: I could be pregnant from my own cousin. A cold shiver ran through me. I could not even begin to think of the implications of being pregnant. Without saying a word, I took the white
tablets from his sweaty palm with trembling fingers and threw them in my mouth.
Introduction
You must have heard people say the words: Never judge a book by its cover. However, people never tell others not to judge a book by its first chapter, because that was exactly what I did when I started to read the book “Daughters who walk this path”.
Daughters who walk this path started with the author giving me an insight into the lives of Morayo and Eniayo. The book started with the birth of Morayo’s sister, Eniayo, and the superstitions flying around in the family because Eniayo is born an albino. This made me think that Eniayo would be the main character. Little did I know.
Morayo initially disliked her sister because she believed Eniayo was a spirit that had brought bad luck to the family. However, it took just her mother discussing with her to make her take a liking to her sister, and from then on, a strong bond that would survive storm-like situations began to form.
Everything went on well with the family until the introduction of another character; Tayo or Bros T. Bros T was the bad luck the family had always prayed against but welcomed with open arms into their home.
Havoc Personified
Bros T was the definition of manipulative, shameless, and wicked. Starting with sexual advances to his cousins and giving clear signs of being “a red flag”, no one paid attention until he ruined Morayo’s life. One night when circumstances left him with an indisposed Morayo in the house, he did what he had always intended to do. That night marked the beginning of constant rape for months, and emotional manipulation.
To avoid exposing her sister to the same fate, Morayo eventually spoke up. However, her speaking up only resulted in sending Bros T packing. Her parents never discussed how the constant molestation made her feel or how it had changed her life. It took the help of another extended family member to give her the will to live. Morayo formed the strongest connection with her dear Anty Morenike, the only person who openly discussed her trauma with her, the only person who understood her.
The Birth of Another Morayo
Saying that Bros T almost ruined Morayo’s life forever is no exaggeration. Even after he left, his shadow and what he did influenced almost all her decisions and actions. First, she became a lot more reserved and started to blame herself for what happened. Also, there was a point in her life when she tried to commit suicide.
In addition to that, Morayo’s lifestyle as a university student was nothing to write home about. Sleeping around with different men made her feel in control, something that she had not felt since Bros T happened, and this fueled her desire to keep sleeping around. Her twisted way of wanting to keep him by her side also pushed away one person who may have been her true love. Morayo believed that she constantly had to prove that she deserves love. She didn’t even love herself!
Even after Morayo decided to turn a new leaf and take active steps to love herself, her innate belief in her unworthiness kept surfacing in her life. When she found true love, it took everything to convince her that her love loved her. It took her loving herself to see that love can also come from other places, unexpected places sometimes.
For a long time, not seeing Bros T around helped Morayo to see herself as lovable. However, Morayo had to learn to keep loving herself after she crossed paths with Bros T again. She learned what having peace of mind can look like after confronting her past with Bros T, and she almost learned this the hard way as she almost lost something that meant the whole world to her after Bros T reappeared into her life.
A Change is Going to Come
Daughters Who Walk This Path by Yejide Kilanko emphasizes the obstacles in the paths of daughters, girls, and women who have either been sexually molested, sexually abused, or live with people who have been. The relationship between Morayo and her mum touches on the fact that sometimes, our loved ones may find it hard to have certain conversations with us.
“Daughters who walk this path” also teaches that our actions have consequences and that some of these actions can affect others throughout their life. Our actions can either make or mar others, and that was obvious from the lives of Morayo and Anty Morenike.
In addition, the book “Daughters Who Walk This Path” is a clear indication that we cannot solve some problems by just taking our minds off them. We have to confront them. The other issue touched on, albeit not in detail, is love and what true love is and is not. Things that a person should ideally do and not do to be loved.
I rate the book 4 out of 5 stars. This is because there were proverbs at the beginning of every chapter. The author must have thought of these proverbs well because they matched the context of each chapter. If you are looking to learn African proverbs, you should read Daughters who walk this path. You may want to get a pen and book while reading. I also liked the book because it didn’t portray the regular happy ending. It showed that life happens, and sometimes, a person may not necessarily have his or her life back as it used to be, and that he or she may have to deal with that forever. Of course, there were some happy endings, but there were also not-so-happy endings.
If you like a book with details on aspects that are not particularly related to the book, you should also pick up “daughters who walk this path”.
Conclusion
“Daughters Who Walk This Path” by Yejide Kilanko was a good read for me. Although some topics remained untouched, like Bros T getting payback for changing the dynamics of Morayo’s life, it was a good read all in all. I’d be picking up another of the author’s books soon. You should also pick this one up if you haven’t.
For other book reviews, check here.
Leave a Reply