Amaka Azie

Amaka Azie is author of Thorns and Roses, she was born in Lagos, grew up between Lagos and Abuja. She studied Medicine and Surgery at the university of Benin City, Nigeria and currently lives in Wirral peninsula with her husband and daughters.

Mary Okeke: Do you write for a living? 

Amaka Azie: No. At least not yet. I am a part-time family Doctor. But I have always wanted to write. It had been a desire of mine since I was a teenager. After I met with a published author who encouraged me to go for it, I decided to follow my dreams. I am glad I did.

MO: What inspired you to write Thorns and Roses?

Palace Walk (The Cairo Trilogy #1), 1956, Naguib Mahfouz *****

Palace  Walk is a story set in the beginning of the 20th century. The story of Ahmad Al Jaawad and his house hold in a continuously evolving Egypt. He has a son, Yasin, with his first wife. Their marriage is quickly followed by a divorce because she is a woman of her own ways and wouldn't tolerate her husband's control.

Ahmad marries for the second time to Amina, a submissive woman in every sense of the word. Together they have Khadidja, Aisha, Fahmy and Kamal. Ahmad rules his household with an iron hand and instills fear in his children and wife. For instance, he asks his wife to leave when he finds out that she left the house without his permission in his absence.

However, what his family does not know is that Ahmad is a totally different character when he is with his friends, he loves music, women and wine. Yasin, his oldest son, soon discovers his father's other facet and realises where his own

Thorns and Roses, 2017, Amaka Azie ****

Thorns and Roses is the story of Ifeoma, struggling to balance her love life with her independence. She and her sisters are brought up in an abusive house hold. They flee, determined to start afresh in Lagos. In a situation where emotional damage has been done, will they succeed? Or will they just fail as their father has always predicted?

There is nothing as refreshing  as to read a good book about Nigerians who live in Nigeria with no intention of emigrating. Almost every book I have read so far this year is about the African immigrant and the African diaspora, do not get me wrong, as I believe that their stories too

Happiness, Like Water 2013, Chinelo Okparanta ****

Happiness, Like Water is a collection of ten short stories that I enjoyed, in general. 

"Happiness is like water. We're always trying to grab onto it, but it's always slipping between our fingers. And my fingers are thin. With lots of gaps in between"

The main theme of the stories is the mother-daughter relationship. Are mothers always qualified enough to dictate the course of their daughter's life? I find it somewhat worrisome that the female child should live up to her mother's heart desire, even if that means sacrificing her own happiness. At the end of the day, the main aim is to bring up girls who are decision makers, who know how to live up to their own heart content.

The stories that I really enjoyed are:

Faber and Faber

Apart from my Blogger Spotlight project I also have another open project called publishing houses click here for more info.

In this post I will be talking about Faber and Faber founded in 1929 by Geoffrey Faber in the UK. If you'd like to read more about this publishing house, please visit their website by clicking here.

The books I have read published by this company are