- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Legend Press (27 Sep 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1906558043
- ISBN-13: 978-1906558048
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 13 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 375,678 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
In Dependence
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'It is a mark of Manyika's care for her characters that life and love so engagingly result in a hopeful union.' --Akin Adesokan, author of Roots in the Sky
'Sarah Ladipo Manyika's novel has the subtle power of a well woven work, nothing is out of place... it is full of surprises.' --Obi Nwankanam, Vanguard
'A big and elegantly told story of lost love.' --Brian Chikwava, Author of Harare North
'Sarah Ladipo Manyika's novel has the subtle power of a well woven work, nothing is out of place... it is full of surprises.' --Obi Nwankanam, Vanguard
'A big and elegantly told story of lost love.' --Brian Chikwava, Author of Harare North
Product Description
It is the early-sixties when a young Tayo Ajayi sails to England from Nigeria to take up a scholarship at Oxford University. In this city of dreaming spires, he finds himself among a generation high on visions of a new and better world. The whole world seems ablaze with change: independence at home, the Civil Rights movement and the first tremors of cultural and sexual revolutions. It is then that Tayo meets Vanessa Richardson, the beautiful daughter of an ex-colonial officer. "In Dependence" is Tayo and Vanessa's story of a brave but bittersweet love affair. It is the story of two people struggling to find themselves and each other a story of passion and idealism, courage and betrayal, and the universal desire to fall, madly, deeply, in love.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I found what I was looking for,
By Astolphe "Dacosta" (Florianopolis, Brazil) - See all my reviews
This review is from: In Dependence (Paperback)
I found this book a couple of days ago - on a flight from London to Sao Paulo. Someone had left it in the rack behind the seat in front of me.
It was just what I needed. I work in the banking sector and the current financial crisis has made the people I work with smaller and meaner than they normally are (and they are not the prettiest of characters at the best of times). I needed something to remind me of the breadth of the world that I live in. Something to make me laugh. And something to lift my spirit and remind me of the role that serendipity can play in our lives (if we just let it). There are so many books where you get the feeling that the author doesn't really like his or her characters. The opposite is true of this book. The protagonists - with all their flaws and weaknesses - are tenderly and lovingly depicted. It is so easy to fall in love with the characters in this book (and the author lets you do so). And, although it is not a thriller, the narrative moves you forward at just the right pace. Whether in Lagos or Oxford, Dakar or San Francisco, this deceptively simple tale of "boy meets girl" kept me spell bound for much of my journey. The journey of Tayo and Vanessa spans four decades. My transatlantic journey took just 11 hours. But as I got off the plane I felt rejuvenated and a couple of hours later I did something I should have done ages ago - I called Luisa.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Emotionally charged,
By
This review is from: In Dependence (Paperback)
A truly emotional journey. Once I started reading "In Dependence" I simply couldn't stop and now I wish I'd read it more slowly.
The author weaves an intricate fabric with characters that come alive, fact and fiction, drama, history, religion, politics and love. The naivety of youth and idealism is starkly contrasted with the harsh realities of life. The complexities of race, colour and cross cultural relationships are boldly but sensitively explored. In Dependence evokes nostalgic memories of yester years, sober thoughts of the present and a projection of the inevitable old age years. It leaves you with a bittersweet taste and reminds you that love and relationships should be treasured.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Canned Joy.,
This review is from: In Dependence (Paperback)
I pre-ordered this book on a whim and it arrived two days ago. I read it in two days in spite of my work commitments. I've never done an Amazon review before but as a Nigerian, I feel compelled to do a review for this book. Here is a book that successfully melds the personal and political in a way none of the great Nigerian authors of old did in their creative outputs. The dilemma now is to write this review without ruining the story for new readers.
The book is about regret and partial redemption in the tradition of Khaled Hosseini's "The Kite Runner". The political turns of a country directly affect the fate of Tayo Ajayi, the novel's protagonist. Unlike the "The Kite Runner" protagonist, Tayo refuses to seek exile as a matter of principle. But there are costs for this stubbornness and one must question where motivation from principles end and those from ego begin. This is a subtle Greek tragedy. If the purpose of life is to successfully fulfil one's core quests while also struggling to retain/increase spiritual integrity (comedy) then failure to fulfil the quest - in both the personal and public realm, the romantic and political spheres - makes for tragedy. It's a bitter lesson that Tayo learns - that abandoning personal happiness is no guarantee of success in effecting change in the political realm. One might ponder whether the rejection of personal happiness is a form of cowardice. Tayo does at least try to fulfil one of his quests and is all the more valiant a character for trying where others just pursue selfish ends or simply sleep walk through life. I could dip into my literary background and go on to draw comparisons with the travails and twisted fates of Arthurian knights and Greek heroes, but that would lose the average reader so I resist the temptation. I will simply say that this book displays many layers; it has hidden depths. As a very mediocre art student many years ago I remember my life drawing tutor telling me to simply follow the curves of the human form with my eyes. I was to surrender the motion of my hand to the flow dictated by my eye, not my head. I also remember my still life tutor telling me the importance of negative space. Considering what isn't there (empty spaces) is just as important as taking in what is there while drawing. And for both forms of drawing the understanding of light and shade complete the work. Alas my talent was pedestrian and my artistic outputs dreadful. Thankfully Sarah Ladipo Manyika is a dexterous literary artificer with an eye for flow and negative space. She is a writer who crafts a succinct yet epic tale in her skilful manipulation of pace/flow. She is a writer who crafts a succinct yet epic tale in her renderings through that which is told/shown and untold/unshown. There are no redundant repetitions or laborious character build ups. Her economical storytelling style is very much reminiscent of Chinua Achebe's. Dialogue crackles and the author's revelatory style speaks volumes with a single sentence, a silent pause. Are you interested in genuine and nuanced portrayals of ordinary Nigerians doing extraordinary things? Like me, are you tired of the all too often two dimensional depictions of "African lives"? Then blow away the dusty cobwebs of the usual literary fare. BUY THIS BOOK.
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