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Olubunmi Oyinsan

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Bunmi Oyinsan has an MA from Saint Mary’s University, Halifax Nova Scotia and a Ph.D. from York University, Canada. Her background includes work as a creative writer, television scriptwriter and film producer and dramatist. She has published novels for adults and one book for young adults. She has written illustrated books for children, several short stories in anthologies and literary journals, edited a collection of short stories for the Association of Nigerian Authors. She has also written and directed stage plays, radio plays, written and produced television dramas and serials. She is passionate about Pan African History, Social Justice, Education and fair trade. She is the producer and presenter of the Sankofa Pan African Series.

THREE WOMEN Cover
FICTION & LITERATURE

THREE WOMEN

BY Olubunmi Oyinsan • POSTED ON May 23, 2020

In this domestic novel set in 20th-century Nigeria, Oyinsan tells the story of Oyinkan and Kole, their troubled marriage, and Oyinkan’s relationship with the grandmother who raised her and the mother who largely abandoned her.

In the book’s opening chapter, Oyinkan and Kole’s separation ends as they rush their son Moyo to the hospital after Kole accidentally injures him. The narrative then flashes back to Oyinkan’s childhood, growing up in her grandmother’s house. When her grandmother dies, Oyinkan is sent to live with her mother’s family, where she is treated as a distant relative because her half siblings have no idea they have a sister. Oyinkan falls in love with Kole and gives birth to Moyo soon after they marry, setting aside her own aspirations to work as a typist to care for her son. As Kole’s construction business grows, the couple’s marital tensions increase. Eventually, Oyinkan leaves him, moving into the house she inherited from her grandmother and starting a construction business of her own. Oyinkan finds her grandmother’s diary and learns about the complexities of the woman who raised her and the woman who gave birth to her, developing a more solid sense of herself in the process. Oyinsan is a strong writer, presenting a well-developed voice and inventive descriptions (“Her colors were the tones of gaiety, of vibrant youth, of laughter and life itself”). The diary sections, textual interludes in Oyinkan’s tale, are engrossing and effective, adding texture to the novel. The Nigerian setting is well imagined, full of Yoruba dialogue translated in footnotes. While readers may grow frustrated as Oyinkan and Kole’s home life becomes more and more dysfunctional, Oyinsan does a good job of rendering the entire cast as both plausible and sympathetic, delivering an ultimately satisfying resolution to the many conflicts that arise.

A solid, well-written novel of relationships and growth.

Pub Date: May 23, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-4610-0298-7

Page count: 344pp

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: July 7, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020

Three Women by Bunmi Oyinsan

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