In 1958 the iconic Things Fall Apart told the great rags-to-riches story of an Igbo man, Okonkwo. Long Hard Road to Eden now chronicles the struggles of another Igbo man, ONYIJE AMALU, who bootstraps himself, and his extended family, from abject poverty to great prosperity. If Things Fall Apart is regarded as the 'Old Testament' of the life and culture of the Igbo people, Long Hard Road to Eden is intended to be the long-awaited 'New Testament'.
A prodigy, Onyije Amalu, born into a dirt-poor family, plans to become a rich medical doctor and thenceforth vanish Poverty from his family. However, after he tops all candidates at the entrance examinations to a prestigious Catholic secondary school, his parents and uncle fail to secure a financial sponsorship for him. But he tops all candidates in the entrance examinations to an elite Government secondary school, and is awarded a full scholarship.
Just as he is about to sit his HSC (A-LEVEL) exams, the Nigeria-Biafra civil war breaks out. Onyije enters the Biafra School of Infantry, graduates, and distinguishes himself in the battles of Oguta and Agulu, rising to the rank of Major. But Biafra loses the war and Onyije finds out that his secondary school has been destroyed during the war.
Onyije cannot get a university scholarship without his HSC. So, if he wants a university education, he must sponsor himself. He must run the gauntlet. His family is simply too poor to help him.
This Autobiographical Fiction, (ABF), Long Hard Road to Eden narrates the saga that takes Onyije from Nigeria to Jamaica, to The Bahamas, and ultimately back to Nigeria, where he and his 3 daughters, (a Physician, and two Certified Public Accountants), set up three businesses, which thrive, and expand from their birth-city of Aba, to many cities in Nigeria. Onyije's extended family is transformed from extreme penury to unimaginable prosperity. ABF is a unique genre, 'based on facts, but, importantly, not bound by facts.' ABF is writing fiction from one's own life-experiences. It is a 'beautiful hybrid between creative non-fiction and fiction.' The life-story of the Protagonist runs parallel to that of the Author.
Today there are millions of Onyije Amalu(s) in Nigeria, in all of Africa, in the West Indies, and indeed in any nation where desperate young people are struggling to make headways in life. Long Hard Road to Eden brings exhortation to all these youngsters. In addition, people of all ages will benefit from a first-hand account of the Nigeria-Biafra war, as narrated by somebody who actually took part in the fighting, and lived in Biafra, during and immediately after the war.
Just like Things Fall Apart, Long Hard Road to Eden is laden with a plethora of Igbo proverbs, folklore, songs, as well as a lavish measure of Yoruba, Jamaican, and West-Indian proverbs. It contains no 'adult language', because it is intended for everybody.
In addition, Long Hard Road to Eden makes a valiant effort to debunk many stereotypical labels that have plagued Nigeria's inter-ethnic relationships and have led to inter-ethnic strife. It also crushes the age-old notion, in Nigeria, that sons are intrinsically more valuable than daughters.
This book has something for everybody to take away. It will be warmly received in all English-speaking Africa, especially Nigeria and Ghana. It will also be welcomed by Africans in the diaspora, and by the people of the West Indies, (a large chunk of the story unfolded in the Caribbean). In addition to this primary audience, any reader, from anywhere, who admires wit, resolution, tenacity, and supreme courage, must fall in love with Long Hard Road to Eden. Any lover of rags-to-riches stories will surely devour this nov
