Published in 2015, Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta is historical fiction set during and after the Nigerian Civil War, written in a style of literary realism that incorporates elements of Nigerian folklore. Under the Udala Trees can is also categorized as LGBT+ literature—it won “Best Lesbian Fiction” in the 2016 Lambda Literary Awards.
The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Okparanta, Chinelo. Under the Udala Trees. New York: Mariner Books, 2016. The novel opens in Ojoto, Nigeria in 1967. The Nigerian Civil War has just begun. Ijeoma, the protagonist and narrator, is about ten years old.

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Book Summary

Udala Fruit

328 pages: 22 cm. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2019-10-14 02:05:07 Boxid IA1672908 Camera. 'Under the Udala Trees is an evocative, fiercely told story about a woman's life, about family and love, and about becoming who you are meant to be. Chinelo Okparanta is an incendiary, essential voice.' ' -Justin Torres, author of We the Animals -This text refers to an alternate kindleedition edition.

Inspired by Nigeria's folktales and its war, Under the Udala Trees is a deeply searching, powerful debut about the dangers of living and loving openly.

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A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
One of NPR's Best Books of 2015
One of the Los Angeles Times 56 Fabulous Works of Fiction and Poetry for the Holidays
One of the Wall Street Journal's 15 Books to Read This Fall
One of the Millions Most Anticipated Reads for 2015
2015 NAACP Image Awards Nominee (Outstanding Literary Work of Fiction)
One of The Root's 15 Powerful Works of Fiction by Black Authors in 2015
One of Cosmopolitan Magazine's 24 Books to Read This Fall
One of Gawker's 9 Must-Reads for Fall
Nominated for the NAACP Image Awards, 'Outstanding Literary Work—Fiction'
Lambda Literary Award Finalist, 'Lesbian Fiction'
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
One of the Wall Street Journal's '15 Books to Read This Fall'
A Shelf Awareness 'Best Book of 2015'
.... plus many more awards & nominations
Ijeoma comes of age as her nation does; born before independence, she is eleven when civil war breaks out in the young republic of Nigeria. Sent away to safety, she meets another displaced child and they, star-crossed, fall in love. They are from different ethnic communities. They are also both girls.
When their love is discovered, Ijeoma learns that she will have to hide this part of herself. But there is a cost to living inside a lie.
As Edwidge Danticat has made personal the legacy of Haiti's political coming of age, Okparanta's Under the Udala Trees uses one woman's lifetime to examine the ways in which Nigerians continue to struggle toward selfhood. Even as their nation contends with and recovers from the effects of war and division, Nigerian lives are also wrecked and lost from taboo and prejudice. This story offers a glimmer of hope — a future where a woman might just be able to shape her life around truth and love.