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When a Nigerian woman falls for a man she knows will break her mother’s heart, she must choose between love and her family.
At twelve years old, Azere promised her dying father she would marry a Nigerian man and preserve her culture even after emigrating to Canada. Her mother has been vigilant about helping--forcing--her to stay well within the Nigerian dating pool ever since. But when another match-made-by-mom goes wrong, Azere ends up at a bar, enjoying the company and later sharing the bed of Rafael Castellano, a man who is tall, handsome, and white.
When their one-night stand unexpectedly evolves into something serious, Azere is caught between her growing feelings for Rafael and the compulsive need to please her mother who will never accept a relationship that threatens to dilute Azere's Nigerian heritage.
Azere can't help wondering if loving Rafael makes her any less of a Nigerian. Can she be with him without compromising her identity? The answer will either cause Azere to be audacious and fight for her happiness or continue as the compliant daughter.
Source: paperback borrowed from library
I'd been waiting to get my hands in this novel and did not waste any time with it as I finished it in a day!
Azere is a smart, talented young woman who has a great job, wonderful friends and a tight-knit family. As an emigrant, she's had to find a way to balance her native Nigerian roots with the new roots she had to establish in Canada. She's also had to make promises to her parents to live up to their expectations, one of them being that she'll marry a Nigerian. Mind you, this is a promise Azere made when she was a young 12 year-old. Her mother has held her to that since and continuously introduces her to a revolving door of eligible Nigerian men. One such date goes terribly south, so Azere heads to the hotel bar where she ends up making great conversation with Rafael who's travelling to Toronto on business. They close the bar and stumble into bed with each other. She just broke her promise but she can't feel sorry for that because she enjoyed herself.
While she'd like to keep this one night stand firmly in the past, everything goes awry when it turns out that Rafael is her new co-worker AND ..... she's pregnant! There's no way she can explain this to her mom - the white guy she slept with who's very much not Nigerian, and that she's preggo by said white guy - without all hell breaking loose. All of this sudden chaos brings Azere to a fork in the road where she has several questions to ask of herself before she can pick her direction: Who is she? What does she want? And whom is she trying to please?
It was so easy to read this because the story moves along at a good pace. And it was also difficult because of all the nasty stuff being thrown her way by her own mother. She's unsurprisingly angry at Azere and disappointed. There are a lot of complicated emotions tied up in their relationship and I've got to say, I was not fond of her mother at all. Yes, I admire her strength at moving to a new country and building a new life with her daughters. What got me riled up was how she treated Azere. No matter what Azere accomplished professionally or personally, it would be insignificant next to her duty to get married. At no point during all the matchmaking did her mother stop to consider Azere's feelings. Azere might have made that promise but she was a child with no experience of the world when she made it. Azere's mother was not my favorite person and her attitude made my blood boil every time.
Azere and Raphael's relationship goes through several tough hurdles between the surprise pregnancy and their families and work. There's also Raphael's own painful past that he hasn't shared with Azere that causes a rift between them. It's not the only thing working against them but they definitely have an uphill battle.
I liked the realness of this story and how both their strong cultural backgrounds felt like a third main character in here. Having strong ties to one's cultural heritage is important and admirable, and for those of us who don't have that, enviable. How Azere and Raphael come to a resolution and find what works for them, their equilibrium, was fascinating to me. I also liked Igharo's writing which went smoothly from the first page. I enjoyed reading Ties That Tether and hope to read more from Jane Igharo in the future!
~ Bel
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