Changes is an unpretentious love story set in Accra, Ghana. Ama Ata Aidoo tells the story of three educated, financially independent females who juggle their roles as career women, wives, mothers and daughters in an overwhelmingly patriarchal society.
Esi, the main character, walks away from a bad marriage because her husband (Oko) who was initally mesmerized by her "air of independence" had begun to resent her for the same reason. Oko wants more of Esi's time but when Esi's attempt to balance career and wifely duties fail to meet Oko's demands, she is forced to make a choice. Esi files for divorce and leaves her marriage of six years in an atypical fashion--she sends Oko packing from her house, a bungalow that comes with her government career as data analyst with the government's statistical bureau.
In the face of familial and cultural pressures, Esi follows through with her decision to divorce Oko. Soon after, she is swept off her feet by Ali Kondey, a very good looking man "with beautifully white and even teeth." The attraction was mutual though there is one little problem--Mr Kondey is already married (to Fusena) with kids. Yet, Esi and Ali live an alternative lifestyle, seeing each other many nights a week before Ali has to return home to his wife and kids. Ali eventually asks Esi to become his wife and once again, Esi finds herself at a crossroad as she considers becoming a second wife to Ali.
Esi's grandmother is both surprised and proud of Esi's new dilemma. Afterall, this choice that Esi presents her was unthinkable in her own days. She congratulates Esi for having a choice and warns her of the consequences of such a choice as she says:
"Leave one man, marry another. Esi, you can. You have got your job. The government gives you a house. You have got your car. You have already got your daughter. You don't have to prove you are a woman to any man, old or new. You can pick and choose. But remember, my lady, the best husband you can ever have is he who demands all of you and all of your time. Who is a good man if not one who eats his wife completely, and pushes her down with a good gulp of alcohol?"
Opokuya, Esi's best friend, is a strong and boisterous character who "moved like lightning and laughed through the days of the year." She is a registered nurse and qualified mid wife who is married with kids. On the surface, her marriage to Kubi epitomizes the type of marriage every woman can only dream of and invokes envy from her colleagues and her best friend. We later get a more realistic picture her marriage to Kubi and we are left to decide whether she has it better than other women or not. Opokuya and Esi do not see eye to eye on Esis' reason for divorcing Oko. When Esi exclaimed she could not understand why Oko now loathes her resilience and independence, Opokuya responds:
"men are not really interested in a woman's independence or her intelligence. The few who claim they like intelligent and active women are also interested in having such women permanently in their beds and their kitchen."
Fusena is the third female character. Soon after graduation from teacher training college, she forgoes her teaching career and instead becomes a wife (to Ali Kondey), mother and homemaker while Ali completes his master level training abroad. Now, she regretfully sits back as her highly educated husband becomes involved with another highly educated woman.
Indeed, Ama Ata Aidoo's Changes is a gender conscious and political novel that explores African femininity through the lives of Esi, Opokuya and Fusena without shying away from the turbulence that plagues post-colonial Africa. I took many messages away from this book but the most frightening is that many of the complex issues brought to life in Changes remain real issues for African women living in modern Africa today. And, if life is so challenging for the educated, financially independent, urban African woman, what can we expect for the uneducated, dependent, rural African woman?
I borrowed this from the local library but it is also available on Amazon. Click here
Rating: 4 bows
P.S.
I think I got a little carried away with this review...next one will be shorter :p
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