Dear Alaere.π
Dear Alaere by Eriye Onagoruwa | 4/5π«
She told the counsellor that her uncle put his pee-pee in her mouth and vagina, and he also put his tongue on my pee-pee.
Tbh, if I'm to ask the author of this book a question, my first question will be - why this font?
π³πππ π³ππππ’, ππ πππ’πππ ππ ππππ, πΈ πππ ππππ ππππ πππππππ ππ π’πππ ππππππππ π ππππππ πππ’ ππππππππππ πππππππππ.
Considering the quantum number of quotes in Dear Alaere, I chose this in particular because it gives an insight into the various challenges Alaere went through. Yes. It's Alaere.π
Dear Alaere tells the story of a woman's journey through love, marriage, politicking in the corporate world, irregularities of life, becoming a mother and her strong will to push through - most especially with her daily entries into her diary.
Her debut novel, I actually had a swell time reading this book and it was one I wanted to finish reading before putting down. The characters all had their unique personalities and a vigour given to them that helped communicate clearly and emotively the author's message.
I hate that despite Laja's mother been told by her son that he's the reason why his wife can't give birth, her mother kept fueling the fire towards Alaere and kept blaming her.
Mr Wasiu also represent the typical backward thinking of a Yoruba man who believes a male child is the best child and will go to any length just to have one - even one that ended up taking his wife's life.
The breaking point in this book for me?Β When the Counsellor discovered the damage peadophiles like Toru's in-law did to Biobeleπ and when 'Laja suddenly changed entirely and the love, trust that has pulled them through all these years started to mean nothing to him. Maybe at that point, Alaere's body could no longer carry a child to full time but the fact still is that at the time her body could, he had a very low sperm count, one that only miracles could change and she stood by him.
As you read and flow in and out of Alaere's experiences, challenges and how she handled them, you realise that the world has erred far too long in blaming women and that as a woman, there's the need to stop pushing these issues that affect us down the funnel and start addressing them.