Follow Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia:
Published Books
the son of the house
The Son of the House follows the experience of Nwabulu, a woman who survives
her childhood as an abused housemaid to become a woman in her own
right.
When Nwabulu’s father dies, she is eight years old. At that age, she is a
complete orphan, having also lost her mother at birth. Nwabulu is left with
her stepmother, Mama Nkedilim, who constantly abuses her physically and
verbally. One day, when Nwabulu is barely eleven, Mama Nkedilim sends her to
Lagos to work as a housemaid for a woman called Mama Emma.
In Lagos, Nwabulu suffers physical abuse from Mama Emma, who uses her to the
point of exertion and refuses to send her to school as agreed. Apart from
physical abuse, Nwabulu, almost eleven at the time, is regularly raped by
Papa Emma. Just when Nwabulu is coming to accept her fate, Mama Emma catches
her husband. Mama Emma pours her venom on Nwabulu, wounding her with a knife
and almost killing her. Eventually, Nwabulu is sent back to the village,
where she returns to a life of chores and curses.
Years later, Nwabulu, an accomplished fashion designer, wife and mother
acquires a new client, a wealthy older woman who Nwabulu comes to call Aunty
Julie. Nwabulu and Julie come to become good friends. One day, when Nwabulu
goes to Julie’s house to deliver her clothes, they are both abducted by
kidnappers who demand ransom for their release. While in Abduction, Julie
and Nwabulu swap stories.
The Son Of The House won the
2019 Sharjah Best International Fiction Prize Award.
2021 NLNG Prize for Literature.
