Beside the Still Waters

By Gladys Ijeoma Akunna

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1489726926
• ISBN13: 9781489726926
• Release Date: January 2020
• Publisher: Liferich
• Length: 150 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Hidden Turbulence Besides The Still Waters

Dr. Gladys Ijeoma Akunna loves Nigeria. And this book is a love letter to a country longing to find its identity. Born and raised during the country's most turbulent era post-independence, she weaves factual events from her life with fictitious accounts in the life of Udo, her main character. This blend of truth and fiction, the line blurred, brought me into a near dream state, with flashes of nightmare realism, that left me slack-jawed and breathless at times. Dr. Akunna holds nothing back as she weaves a tale of young woman finding her way amidst a war between brothers, families and friends during a time when the nation was working its way out of the ferocity of British colonialism. She gives advice through the adventures of the heroine that applies to families, leaders and the nation itself. Young Udo sees so much promise and potential wasted through petty rivalries, corruption and selfishness. With so much human talent and natural resource at its disposal, Nigeria, according to Udo, should be a shining star among African nations. Dr. Akunna places Udo at the center of painful realization that Nigeria is a shadow of what it can be. The pain she feels is not only from seeing that opportunity dwindling but that there are ordinary citizens around her that could fix it in just a few years, if only they were allowed to be the Nigerians she longs to be herself. At once therapeutic and informative, Beside the Still Water is a clear-eyed look at the life of a young lady that ends more beautifully than it is told. I highly recommend it to the reader interested in how a nation, and a young lady, come of age at the same time.