Cyprian Ekwensi - Jagua Nana

Jagua Nana is a remarkable, but forgotten, novel. Set in Nigeria in the immediate aftermath of independence, it centres of Jagua Nana, a forty-five year old sex worker who retains her skills, beauty and fantastic dress sense. She is an icon of Lagos, a woman whose clothing and makeup sets the fashions for everyone else. And a woman who is desired by many men.

Jagua wants to settle down and have children. She hopes to do this with Freddie, her twenty something lover, a school teacher, but one who has ambitions. Freddie wants to go to London, to study at the inns of court and return to Nigeria a lawyer who can help transform the country into a modern democracy. Jagua's plan is to pay his way, and ensure he qualifies, then returns and can help her lead the life she dreams of. 

But the tension between her life as a sex-worker, relying on her clients from the exotic Tropicana club to keep her in the life she has, pressures her relationship with Freddie until it snaps. Unable to see past Jagua's sex with other men, Freddie moves to England without Jagua's help. In his absence Jagua is cut adrift, finding solace and excitement in various dalliances and relationships in the country around Lagos. Here her urban street skills are a hindrance in navigating the countryside and its more traditional life, but also offer new ways of thinking to those stuck outside the capital. Her good looks do no harm either:

Here in Ogabu, men dressed well but sanely. Women were beautiful, but not brazen. They had become complementary to the palm trees and the Iroko, the rivulets and the fertile earth. TGhey were part of their surroundings as natural as the wind. Whereas in Lagos man was always grappling to master an environment he had created. It was money, money, yet more money.

Freddie's sudden return as a promising young politician standing in the local election as a radical, democratic and anti-corruption candidate upsets the apple cart. Initially, unable to see past his recent marriage to a young woman, Jagua initially decides to destroy him by supporting the other candidate. But the personal tensions become intensely political. 

Jagua Nana is a remarkable novel because its story is a deeply personal one set against the backdrop of Nigeria's emergence into post-colonialism. It's intensely political, but with a small p, because it doesn't take up big questions of struggle. Rather it is focused on the consequences of individual and very personal decisions and sacrifices, made within bigger contexts. But front and centre are the stories of women's lives - stories that show how women fight to change things, to achieve their dreams and to break free of the limitations forced upon them by their social circumstances. 

I loved this book. It was first published as part of the African Writers Series, curated by Chinua Achebe. I was very lucky to find a copy randomly in a second hand book shop, which proves it is always worth taking a punt on an unknown writer. See if you can hunt it down.

Related Reviews

Achebe - An Image of Africa
Achebe - Things Fall Apart
Ousmane - God's Bits of Wood