Buchi Emecheta was born in Lagos (Nigeria) in 1944, and she was educated in a Methodist school after receiving a scholarship following her father´s death. When she was 16, her destiny changed when she married the man she had been engaged since the age of 11, with whom she emigrated to London four years later. The couple had five children before their marriage collapsed.

As a mother who belonged to a minority group in a foreign country, Emecheta had to face numerous obstacles. Despite this, she received a Sociology degree from the University of London in 1974.  She had organised her studies with a job in the British Museum´s library so she could support her family.

In fact, the hardships she endured in London comprised the material chosen for her first two novels--In the Ditch (1972) and Second-Class Citizen (1975). She followed her initial success with stories about the constant fight of African women to develop their potential in a society dominated by men. The Bride Price (1976), The Slave Girl (1977), Kehinde (1994) and The New Tribe (2000) are other titles by her about a similar topic

After working at the University of London and the University of Nigeria, she returned to the British capital so she could be close to her children. During this period, Emecheta published The Joys of Motherhood (1979), her most successful novel in which she reconsiders maternity in the African culture.

As a novelist and an essayist, she is among Africa´s most prolific writers. She has published novels for adults, an autobiography, as well as numerous essays and children´s books. Except for her most critically acclaimed book, The Rape of Shavi (1983), her novels have a documentary style.

Throughout her literary career, one is able to observe how Emecheta experiments with narrative techniques and with women, which is a topic that has been ignored for many years by male African writers. Because of all of this, most of her critical reviews she has received to date have been positive.

Sources:

• Wikipedia 

• www.enotes.com

• www.contemporarywriters.com

Consult the availability of publications at the Casa África Media Library