When Innocence is Sold – A review of Munachimso Jennifer Ezeilo’s A Bee in her Bonnet
Title: A Bee in her Bonnet
Author: Munachimso Jennifer Ezeilo
Year of Publication: 2020
Number of Pages: 245
Category: Fiction
At first glance, A Bee in the Bonnet by Munachimso Jennifer Ezeilo sounds like a children’s book. Only later do you discover that the title actually refers to being consumed by an obsession and in this case, the painful reality of child marriage.
Child marriage may sound like a thing of the past, but unfortunately it is still happening. What makes it even more disturbing is that it is often wealthy and influential men who are at the center of it, just as we see in this book.
The story begins slowly, almost making you wonder where the author is taking you, but with each chapter the themes begin to unfold. Rape, child marriage, violence, abuse, and the struggle for justice. These are heavy themes, but the way they are revealed draws you in and forces you to think more deeply about them.
There are a lot of issues raised in this book. A nine-year-old girl is forced into marriage with a powerful man, with her own father’s support. A man must protect himself while handling a case so sensitive it could cost him his life. The lawyer defending the offender turns out to be the very man a woman is engaged to marry. A judge faces threats to his family’s safety while presiding over a case that should send the guilty to jail. A neighbour’s dangerous obsession becomes impossible to ignore. An employee grows weary of his boss’s corrupt and evil ways and decides to expose him. Ambition collides with morality when a career begins to matter more than values. And in the midst of it all comes the devastating discovery that the child you and your husband have loved and raised is not your husband’s. Plenty wahala indeed.
The dilemmas keep unfolding, one layered over another, creating a web of secrets and struggles that makes it difficult to put the book down. Set mostly in Abuja, with some scenes in Lagos, the story feels alive with tension and conflict. And as in real life, love finds its way into the chaos, sometimes in the form of infatuation, sometimes as something deeper. It almost feels as if no book is complete without love being inserted, and here too it appears, fighting to survive amidst the turmoil.
The further you go, the more engaging the story becomes. At times it feels a little predictable, especially if you are used to movies with similar twists, but there are still surprises tucked in along the way.
Even if you have a sense of how it might end, the journey there keeps you hooked. A Bee in the Bonnet is a sobering and thought-provoking story. It leaves you unsettled, yet it is an interesting and worthwhile read.
About the reviewer
Titilade Oyemade is a business executive in a leading organisation and holds a degree in Russian Language. She’s the convener of the Hangoutwithtee Ladies Event and the Publisher of Hangoutwithtee magazine. She spends her weekends attending women conferences, events and book readings. She loves to have fun and to help other women have the same in their lives. Email: [email protected] Social: @tiipreeofficial
