The Virgin Couple
Set against the backdrop of a deeply traditional yet rapidly transforming Akan society in Ghana, The Virgin Couple tells the story of two intertwined struggles, one between faith and fear, and the other between autonomy and patriarchal authority. Ebow Kobena and Ewura Efuwa have been married for ten years without children. an issue that threatens to unseat their union in a culture where childlessness is not only a personal tragedy but also a communal disgrace. In their world, a woman without a child risks being erased from her ancestral lineage, a fear that consumes Maame Mansa, Ewura Efuwa's mother. A staunch traditionalist. Maame Mansa is torn between pre-serving her daughter's dignity and safeguarding her bloodline's continuity. Yer Ebow charismatic, wealthy, and admired, remains untouchable, even in a society where mothers can dissolve their daughters childless marriages.
Driven by desperation, Mamaa arrives in Accra to live briefly with the couple and urges them to abandon their reliance on Western medicine. To her, the root of the infertility is spiritual, beyond the reach of hospitals and their "White-man methods of treating barreness". She recounts testimonies of barren women healed by witchdoctors after medical science failed them and insists that only a powerful traditional healer can uncover the hidden cause. The suggestion affronts the couple's Christian convictions and modern sensibilities, but Maame Mansa, persuasive and relentless, enlists her equally educated brother, Egya Kobena Kum, to help her break their resistance. Eventually, the couple journeys deep into the forested village of Nunsin, where the revered Okunyin Ndabraba attempts to treat their condition. Despite his elaborate rituals, no results follow, just as with the hospital.
Running parallel to this is the story of Ekuwa Nkofuwa, one of Ewura Efuwa's vocational students, who faces her own battle against oppressive tradition. Her father, Opanyin Fayemara, insists she marry a wealthy, elderly man. Helpless, Nkofuwa turns to her compassionate tutor for help. Ewura Efuwa connects her with Papa Ekumater. a respected family friend, who confronts Fayemara's stance. But the conflict deepens when a sham witchdoctor, Oweegya, is brought in to "diagnose her refusal as a mystical ailment, claiming her face is spiritually hidden in the jaw of a lion. When Nkofuwa later marries Dr Ekow Kwakwa without ever using Oweegya's prescribed herbs, she exposes his deceit, shaming him into silence.
Through these parallel journeys, The Virgin Couple exposes charlatan healers and examines how deeply tooted cultural beliefs collide with contemporary identity, testing the limits of faith, love, resilience, and truth. But if neither the hospital nor the revered witchdoctor can cute Ebow and Ewura Efuwa's childlessness, what then is the actual cause of their childlessness?
Customer Reviews
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
