In Imagine This Lola Ogunwale tells the story of her troubled childhood and journey to adulthood in the form of a journal addressed to an imaginary friend, Jupiter.
Lola is born to Nigerian parents in England. When Lola is only thirteen months old, her mother abandons her and her brother, Adebola. Both are raised by temporary forster parents. Lola would remember them fondly throughout her childhood.
When the children are briefly reunited with their father, he takes them to Nigeria, fearful that he might lose them for good. He separates them and foists them on relatives who don’t want them.
Lola begins her journal aged nine years old and documents how she survives cruelty and neglect while coping with an alien culture in the village of Idogun, which is nothing like she experienced in Kent, England.
Tragedy and Grief
Lola misses Adebola and wonders about the mother that left her behind. When tragedy strikes close to home Lola is inconsolable to the point of insanity. She is briefly taken to Lagos, but as she slowly recovers, her father remarries and shunts her back to relatives in the village. Her father grows more distant and seems crueller by the day.
Lola becomes a teenager in Idogun. She is out of school and has no prospects for the future, except to marry some poor farmer. However, it seems her lucky turns when, before her sixteenth birthday, a relative takes pity on her and takes her to Lagos to further her education in exchange for acting as a maid for his children. But things don’t work out well and the ill-treated Lola is once again being shunted from one relative to another, until finally, the spectre of homelessness looms large for the hapless girl. In the meantime, her father becomes one of the wealthiest men in Lagos.
However, despite her troubled life, Lola experiences romantic love and also suffers heartbreak.
A Clever and Moving Story
Imagine This is a cleverly crafted and moving story about a child thrown into a cruel adult world who grows, against all odds, into a remarkable young woman whose one cherished desire comes to fruition. The story is not conventionally presented complete with dialogue, just reported snippets, as befits a journal. The language is simple, clear and rich with African proverbs, but effective. Despite its poignancy, the book is easy to read but hard to put down. It was listed in Richard & Judy’s Book Club/Best Read.
About Sade Adeniran
Sade Adeniran was born in England, grew up in Nigeria and now lives in London. She started her writing career with BBC Radio 4. Imagine This is her first novel.
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