The Middle Daughter

When seventeen-year-old Nani loses her older sister and then her father in quick succession, her world spins off its axis. Isolated and misunderstood by her grieving mother and sister, she’s drawn to an itinerant preacher, a handsome self-proclaimed man of God who offers her a new place to belong. All too soon, Nani finds herself estranged from her family, tethered to her abusive husband by children she loves but cannot fully comprehend. She must find the courage to break free and wrestle her life back—without losing what she loves most.

This was such a hard-hitting novel. I immensely enjoyed reading about the misunderstood Nani - her journey was emotional and uplifting and I could not stop reading. It is a very composed novel, never saying more than it needs to; the pacing, the length, the character development was spot on.

I will be thinking about Nani and her story for a while yet.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for granting me access to this book.
I'm stunned by the stellar reading I've just experienced. I've always been a fan of Ms. Unigwe but she has evolved so much as a writer that I just want to give her all the flowers. I stayed up late to read this book and I have no words to describe how good this book is. All I can tell anyone right now is, you have to friggin read this.
Just, wow.

Seventeen year old Nani loses her older sister and father in quick succession and the impact on her is immediate and long-lasting. The isolation of grief and a grieving family send her into the arms of a man who shows her love, a self-proclaimed man of God. This man with whom she has three children, but whose love is false, as he turns violent and isolating. Nani needs to find the strength to break out and free, for herself, her children and her future.

This is a heart-breaking, tender novel, full of beautiful prose. It is a novel which has lingered in the mind long after I finished reading it, and one I will read again.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for am honest review.

The Middle Sister is a heart-wrenching representation of how grief and trauma can create ripples of pain with survivors at times almost drowning and other times floating on top.

Nani is the middle sister of an affluent Nigerian family. She is the quiet sister that follows the rules and often avoids conflict. Sudden loss changes her view of the world, causing her to believe she has lost herself also. We follow her perspective primarily as she has the most difficult experiences of her life.

I loves this book. The trauma and grief are handled with such honesty that I found myself immersed in her thoughts and emotions. There were moments when I had to put the book down to sit in what I had read, and there were other times that I kept going because I HAD to know what would happen next.

Even with TWs, this book is a must read.

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.

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.