Title: A Widow’s Silhouette
Author: Basil Opurum
Publisher: Silverville
ISBN-13: 978-0986408403
Pages: 324
Genre: Fiction
Reviewed by: Barbara Zandvliet
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A Widow’s Silhouette, written by Basil Opurum, chronicles African lives in the mid-to-late 20th century amidst the Biafran-Nigerian civil war, which was fought between the nationalist Igbo people and the federal government to counter the secession of Biafra, a region of eastern Nigeria. The story spans the 1960s through the 1990s and through various characters introduced by the author, it examines how the war impacted families, forced people to leave their homes and businesses and instilled a constant state of fear in the Nigerian people during the war.
Opurum makes a valiant effort to intersperse themes of love, religion, African culture, power, discrimination, sexism and war throughout the book. His story explores eastern Nigerian culture through the relationship between Jane, an intelligent and ambitious woman who meets and falls in love with John, a Biafran nationalist and tradesman. Their relationship explores the culture of polygamy and endures the many economic obstacles within Nigeria during the war as they attempt to build a family together.
Readers with an interest in Nigerian history, war and romance will find A Widow’s Silhouette has a significant amount of conflict and introspection into a period of history where people suffered the consequences of poverty, war and crime to make better lives for themselves and their families.
