Extract n° 4 – chapter 17 – Lies thicken

I – Reminders of the past : the characters and the objects reminding Sade of her beloved ones and of her life in Lagos / Mixed feelings of joy and pain

• Jenny had been one of the first characters to remind Sade of her Lagos. She looked like her Iyawo, the female ebony head she had to leave on her desk when leaving hastily her home with Uncle Tunde. This is why she nicknamed her Jenny-Iyawo.

• Then, Mrs Appiah who strongly reminds Sade of Mama Buki (her mother’s sister) and Sade alludes to the resemblance many times. She is from Ghana and she wore a Gele (l.2) / (l.5) / (l.26)

Some questions asked by Mrs Appiah revived pain in Sade’s heart: (l.36) « how are things there at home ? Sade winced and shut her eyes. It was as if another blanket had been thrown over her » After remembering joyful moment at the beginning of their conversation, she is sent back under the blanket in Uncle Tunde’s car. It refers to the moment when their uncle was driving them secretly to the airport to be sent illegally to England and they had to hide under a blanket.

Beverley Naidoo inserts some flashbacks in her narrative. Some are italicized passages clearly showing that Sade is remembering past events while in London. (l.49). Sade remembers Mama Buki comforting them after Mama’s death when she is comforted by Mrs Appiah.

This first flashback in ch.17 revived pain too and her feelings are expressed through a simile evoking her country.

(l.55) « Great sobs stirred inside Sade like gusts of wind whipping up palm leaves before a storm »

She finally let her tears out.

The next lines also show Sade’s strong connection with her brother who doesn’t cry but Sade can feel his sorrow, which could make her cry even again. (l.63-64)

• Finally, Mr Nathan is another character reminding Sade of her family. Like Uncle Tunde, he is a lawyer and she fears he might be as good as him and discover the whole truth.

It is