Bolatito by Seyi Amao: The Review

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Bolatito is a novel that explored the theme of love in different forms and ways.

When I received the book, I was impressed with the package and I am glad that it is not one of those books with cute packages and empty content.

My reading experience was enjoyable.

Seyi Amao is a skilled writer and the way she uses language to transport her readers through the pages in such a way that they get to feel the characters’ emotions is commendable.

Also, the way she skillfully oscillates between the characters’ lives in just eight chapters is laudable.

She takes us through their journey of pain and healing in a little less than two hundred pages, thereby, confirming that a good story does not have to be exactly lengthy.

The novel tells the story of Bolatito, a woman in her thirties and Ifunanya, a twelve-year-old girl who is battling with an auto-immune disease.

Bolatito had just gone through a painful marriage that left her broken, and through Ifunanya she learnt how to love herself wholly and fall back in love with life.

The dynamics of the relationship between Ifunanya and Bolatito is one I particularly enjoyed discovering throughout the novel.

It defies the concept of love or its shallow definition of how it is confined within the romantic and familiar concept.

It transcends a lot of the boundaries we have placed on love and gives us an entirely distinct angle to it.

Apart from the theme of love, I also love how she deftly captures the reconstruction of parenthood through the lens of this current clime.

The dialogue in the novel is also one of the features that stood out for me.

Amao, undoubtedly, is able to capture the characters’ state of mind through dialogues.

In addition to this, I am also impressed with the way she explores the multiple point of view narration.

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For readers and writers alike, narrating a novel from multiple points of views is not an easy feat and if not skillfully done, this could botch the plot of the novel.

In Amao’s case, her use of this narrative technique adds more flavour to the plot and the readers can identify with some of the challenges of the main characters in the novel.

From the first page of the novel, I was utterly beguiled and I found myself reading more chapters and pages than I had planned to read for the day.

I ended up reading the book within 14 hours despite my busy schedule because the writer keeps baiting and arousing my curiosity.

This is a novel that everyone should read and I love the fact that the language is accessible to teenagers and adults as well.

Seyi Amao touches on the issue of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome PCOS which has not been addressed enough in our society.

PCOS is a condition that has caused infertility in 1 out of 6 Nigerian women.

It also leads to infrequent or prolonged menstrual period which comes with a high level of pain or menstrual cramps for some women.

Alongside PCOS, adoption is another issue we rarely talk about.

Some infertile couple would balk at the idea and would not even hear of it.

I am glad that writers like Seyi Amao are bringing this concept into limelight.

Adoption is not a shameful thing. And like Seyi Amao said, as much as some couples need children so do some children need parent.

Through the travails of Bolatito and Ifunanya we are shown how much parenting these days is not only attached to biological relations.

Also, the difficulty Bolatito passes through in adopting the girl illuminates the stressful process behind adoption which, I think, should be looked into.

Of course, I don’t mean that due process should not be followed, but genuine people with good intentions should not be denied the joy of parenting.

Review by The BookLady NG
Author: SEYI AMAO

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