A very emotional read that covers grief, loss, illegal adoptions and emotional manipulation. This was one of the hardest reads I have ever read and my heart broke into pieces for Nani! I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to read this book.

I couldn’t finish this book. It had some promise at first but I just couldn’t put up with it anymore. Giving one star to the wonderful start and that’s all. It’s pretty dark and painful so check tws if you want to read it.

Forgot to review this. I’m wary of picking anything from this author again.

This novel is beautifully written and structured and utterly compelling.
It portrays the life of a woman who is taking stock of how she came to be married to someone who scares her.
It cuts between present and past, and is very poetic and philosophical.

Heart breaking, powerful and moving are three words I have read describing this novel and I would have to agree. I really loved reading this book, although it was incredibly hard to read. The characters were very well created and really drew me in. I was engaged throughout and flew through it! I would definitely recommend.

While the narrative is poignant and sorrowful, it offers a stark portrayal of the challenges many women face in our society. This book, at its core, is a tale of hope and resilience.

Gorgeous read, perfect escapism.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my review.

An absolutely riveting, tender and enchanting read that I couldn't put down. It really is a beautiful book

"The Middle Daughter" by Unigwe explores intricate family dynamics. Unigwe's narrative crafts a tale of cultural clashes and personal growth. However, the pacing occasionally drags, and character motivations can feel unclear. Unigwe's prose is evocative, but the story's impact varies. The book delves into complex themes, yet its execution might not fully satisfy all readers seeking a resonant exploration of identity and belonging.

This book is heartbreaking. It covers beliefs, values, customs, practices, and cultures. A Intresting read, which I enjoyed.

What in the Nollywood did I just read. Be prepared to be upset throughout reading the book. Very sad and heartbreaking but gripping story right from the beginning.. I have a lot of questions though (why didn’t Nani go back home what’s the worse that could have happened🤦🏾‍♀️). I personally think it’s not a book everyone can read as I had to take a number of pauses due to some triggering parts.

As for Ephraim the least said the better.

I loved the writing style and character development. Good book by Chika and I love how it ended. At least the few times, bad things have happened to bad people.

The story is centered on Nina (the middle daughter) who has 2 other sisters; Ugo and Udodi. They come from a well to do family, go to good schools and have good aspirations. Life is good until Udodi, the first daughter dies and this is followed by the death of another important figure in the family.

Nani finds it difficult to “find” herself after the loss of 2 people in her family. She gradually finds solace in a “self-proclaimed” man of God (Ephraim). He visits her everyday all in the name of sharing the word of God with her..

The story takes a rough turn when Ephraim invites her for a night vigil. She attends this night vigil without her mums knowledge as her mum had gone out of town to attend meetings. After the vigil, it is too late to go home as her estate has a strict policy of not opening the gate for whoever it was after 2am.. Reluctantly she decides to spend the night at Ephraim’s place ( worth noting that the area he stays in, she has only been there once or twice, basically nothing to write home about). Ephraim agreed to sleep on the couch and leave the bed for Nani. In the middle of the night, he rapes Nani and blames it on the “Devil” .. nah at this point I had to stop reading and continue the following day. Ephraim I concluded has mental issues.

Your guess is as good as mine, Nani finds out that she is pregnant. Important to note that while all this is going on her mum is making plans for she and Ugo to go study in America. She has been avoiding Ephraim after that incident. She decides to visit Ephraim to break the news to him and to tell him of her plans to abort it. Ephraim is soo excited all in the name of it was revealed to him in a vision that Nani is his wife. He wants to keep the child, excuse me to say he was unemployed so how was he going to bring up this child. He abused Nani and forced her to go to a registry with him so that they get officially married… Another part of the story I was very confused about, I appreciate Nani was not on good terms with her mother because she didn’t approve of her mum’s “adoption” business but it would have been better to go home than follow this man..

She lives with Ephraim for 7 good years and they have 3 children in all ; Holy, PraiseHim and Godsown. Ephraim what sort of names are these . He continuously abuses Nani, locks her at home and doesn’t approve for the children to go to school. What sort of beast did she marry.

Fast forward, Nani is able to escape when Ephraim and the kids go for a conference and with the help of her aunt she gains her freedom.

Highly recommended but as cautioned get ready to be upset. Though Doda didn’t last long I think he was my favourite character in this book.

I also like the fact that Udodi’s “spirit” remained and the author did well by letting us know what she thought about Nani’s experience..

This book covers beliefs, values, customs, practices, and institutions of culture that gave me great insight. The author has provided readers with a deeper understanding of the ways in which people from different cultural backgrounds live, think, and interact with each other. I’ve gained a deeper appreciation for the richness and diversity of human culture. This is a book that can promote understanding, empathy, and a sense of interconnectedness among people from different backgrounds.

The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Nani, the middle daughter of a wealthy Nigerian family, loses her eldest sister and her father in quick succession. Misunderstood by her mum and youngest sister, she is drawn to Ephraim, a religious fanatic, who drags her to a vigil. Afterwards he rapes her and Nani is lost because she is sure her mother (even though she is a doctor 'helping' women with getting their unexpected kids adopted) will think she asked for it. She runs back to Ephraim when she finds out she is pregnant, hoping for an abortion, but ends up with an abusive marriage and 3 kids.

It's a heartbreaking and heavy story and I caught myself condemning Nani for her choices. Hello there white privilege! This a 17 yo, who is lost and misunderstood, in a society that condemns rape heavily. What would I have done in her situation? 17 is so young.

As Nani loves her kids, I get she cannot just leave them behind. It's the one thing in her life that is left to love. Unigwe puts you on a rollercoaster of emotions and makes you think. I loved the parts in Igbo. The interludes of Udodi, the dead sister, worked really well for me. The storytelling is really strong, so this is an excellent book.

This is a hard-hitting story of grief and trauma and how a family is ripped apart by loss. I was really gripped by this novel and loved the structure of the three sisters' different narratives. However, this structure became a little too loose towards the end and I was slightly less engaged. But this is a really strong novel, with a story which is heartbreaking at times but ultimately full of hope.
This honest review is given with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

A heart-wrenching story of a young woman struggling to escape from an abusive relationship. Explores themes of family, identity and courage. A really good read, I enjoyed it.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!

When I say I can not wait for the rest of the world to read just how good this books is!? I'm a big fan of Chika Unigwe's since her debut novel, On Black Sister's Street. Her latest book is criminally good - I finished it in a few hours because I was that hooked. Very much recommend as your next read.

I rooted so hard for Nani. A young girl who had lost her place in the world after the death of her beloved father and older sister.

Whilst at her most vulnerable, she meets Ephraim, a preacher, who she sees as a friend. But one night, he abuses that trust.

This book is absolutely heartbreaking. It was very intense and quite difficult to read. I have never wished a character harm in quite the way I did with Ephraim, who is a manipulative, controlling, violent man who uses the Bible for his own will and to control his family.

Eventually, after 7 years, she finds the strength to leave and to try and reconcile with her family.

This is the story of Nani.

⚠️Please look out for trigger warnings.

this book is beautiful. Unigwe’s writing style is so breathtaking and fits this fantastic portrayal of nani’s life. the pure isolation of grief that nani experiences cuts her off from her family, physically and emotionally. this book brought me to tears a couple of times and i even had to pause in a few places to take in the writing and events within the story. it is a brilliant portrayal of how to find strength in such bad times.

i have never read any books by chika unigwe apart from this, so i can tell you now that i will definitely be picking up more of their books in the future.

thank you so much for giving me the pleasure to read this book prior to publication.

The Middle Daughter was an engrossing emotional rollercoaster following Nani through a tumultuous life. Her first great tragedy comes when she losses her older sister, shortly followed by her father. Distancing herself emotionally from her remaining children, Nani's mother retreats into her work as a midwife and builds a successful business, becoming very rich and prominent in the neighbourhood.

Enter Ephraim, a fanatically religious but seemingly harmless character, who Nani does not particularly care for, but in her loneliness,, she entertains his friendship. This mistake leads to a whirlwind of infuriating events which had my blood boiling at Nani, for giving in and accepting her terrible lot in life, and at the society she has grown up in which has moulded her to believe she has no other choice than to acquiesce to this life she never wanted.

This is by no means a pleasant story but it is gorgeously written and the characters feel so real and so flawed, yet the reader finds themself rooting for Nani to break free from the chains of her abusive and dangerous husband and save herself, and her children, from further suffering. The way her growth is shown, from a meek and submissive victim to a strong, courageous woman taking control of her life, is a brilliant metamorphosis and I loved how it explored the importance of family and support, illustrating how isolation acts as a deadly weapon in situations like this.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I am very grateful to the publisher for granting me access to this ARC. I will definitely be recommending this to my audience!

Aged 17 Nani loses her older sister, Udodi and shortly after her father.

The resulting grief leads her to find comfort with a preacher man, but she soon finds herself trapped in an abusive marriage.

This is a heart-breaking novel with gorgeous prose.

This is a story about finding strength and hope even in the darkest places.

Looking forward to reading more of Unigwe's work.

— 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 —

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: The Middle Daughter
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: N/A
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫(𝐬): Chika Unigwe
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Literary Fiction
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 6th April 2023
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 4/5

Content Warning: Rape, Domestic Violence, Post Natal Depression

”I say that that is the problem we have as women: we do not talk enough about what we suffer.”

It’s International Women’s Day, where we should all strive for equality in all parts of the world. This can be particularly difficult in some parts of the world, and The Middle Daughter demonstrates this. Set in Enugu, Nigeria, Nani finds herself trapped in a violent marriage to a strange preacher of a man. She’s trapped because of deep rooted beliefs that if a woman is raped in a man’s house, it’s the fault of the woman for being in that house. Whilst it’s socially unacceptable for women to do many things, it is socially acceptable to discipline women, where Nani is on the receiving end, and how those beliefs affect the familial relationships.

This was such an emotionally strenuous, intense, and powerful read. In her book, Unigwe explores family, social class, religion, grief, and motherhood through the lens of Nani, and sometimes Ugo, her younger sister. The blame culture is strong here, whilst religion reverence supersedes respectful worship and transcends into a dangerous weapon, one that Nani is beaten with many times.

The Middle Daughter reminds me of How The One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House due to the heart wrenching trauma endured and the fight that Nani has to claw her way back into her own life.

I tried to put this down to go to sleep and I couldn’t, I ended up reading the entire book in one sitting. Despite the heavy themes, it was a quick read that bruised my soul and left me feeling a bit shell shocked.

𝑲𝒂𝒚𝒍𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉 @ 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒉 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝑭𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒚
🧚‍♀️🤍