Battle of the Ghost Brides - Reviewing Nuzo Onoh's "Where the Dead Brides Gather"

On the verge of her cousin Keziah's marriage, Bata, a girl who lives in a small Nigerian town with her family, has a kind of episode during which she steps into another dimension and, dressed as an awesome warrior-bride, kicks the ass of an evil ghost bride, who apparently formerly was engaged to her cousin's groom.

See, Bata has been different all her life, suffering from nightmares which keep the whole household awake - and make them resent her a little bit. Before she is subjected to an exorcism by the town's medicine man Dibia, she is snatched by a magnificient spirit who takes her to Ibaja La, the land of ghost brides, and informs her that she is a sort of chosen-one, and she has a paranormal mission she needs to fulfill as a Bride-Sentinel. Of course, for a ten year old girl coming from a family in which things are less than ideal, a household divided into itself, a house in which she always has been the odd one, to arrive in a sort of wonderland of young women in love wearing the most beautiful dresses and wedding cake galore, is a sort of dream. The question is, is a child is up to this task?

I wouldn't be lying when I say that I haven't read anything quite like this book before. There were so many unconventional facets, so much food for thought to this novel, and so genuinely terrifying ghost descriptions that of course it got me completely and immediately immersed.

For me, the setting, a small town in Nigeria, and everything that entails, was equally, if not more compelling than reading about Ibaja La. The family structure and the way the women of the house arranged their lives under the circumstances, the way language and the way people refer to each other reflects their reality in a way that makes absolute sense (like referring to triplet brothers as one entity, Ejima), rice plates with goat meat and Fanta and peanuts, the mix of religions, from the Church of Christianity to local pagan religions with medicine men and masks - Where the Dead Brides Gather offers a true clash of traditions. I absolutely love that Nuzo Onoh takes a kaleidoscopic approach especially in terms of religion and shows the complexities of each side, although it is quite obvious which way Bata will go, at least for me it was.

And that takes us to another interesting point, which was that this book features a main character who is a child, and actually acts like a child. In parts, I really just wanted to console little Bata, because everything happening would be so overwhelming for anyone, let alone a child. I really appreciate an author finally not writing about a child like they're some kind of mini adult, so the course of the book, and the shift of the focal point to another character later in the story one hundred percent makes sense.

On a final note, I can't pass by without mentioning the wonderful humor of Onoh which made me chuckle and even laugh out loud many times, such as at the mention of "the German success walk", which is the kind of fast walk a man from her village has adapted when he went to Germany to study and become an engineer, and all the town trying to imitate him, but struggling, because people are used to walk in a much more relaxed way, hah!

I can't wait to see if there will be a sequel, as Bata, as a main character was a little young for my personal taste, but I'll be totally up to keep reading what happens in later stages, even though the reader knows at the end of the book where her life leads her. I really enjoyed reading about the always hungry Ejima too, I thought especially the younger characters, along with step mother Ọla were very vividly, convincingly painted. I absolutely adored the spectacular battle scenes which were so kick-ass!

My thanks go to Ms. Nuzo Onoh for reaching out and sending me a review copy. You have won a fan in me!

I'll go back to my German success walk now.