Efuru is a 1966 novel by the Nigerian writer Flora Nwapa, published in English by William Heinemann in the African Writers Series, and the first book by a Nigerian woman, and by any sub-Saharan African woman, to be published internationally. Set in a colonial-era Igbo village, it follows its title character, an independent and successful trader, through her marriages and her unfulfilled longing for motherhood. The novel is valued both as an early feminist work and as a rich record of Igbo customs and daily life, and it opened the way for later generations of West African women writers.
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Why is Efuru seen as a turning point for women in African literature?
It was the first adult novel by a Nigerian woman, and women's novels followed in the decades after.
Heinemann published Efuru in 1966 in its African Writers Series as Flora Nwapa's first novel, and it was the first adult novel by a woman from Nigeria. One source calls this a watershed for women in African literature, because a number of novels written by women emerged over the following decades.
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Source Wikipedia: Efuru
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Source Wikipedia: Efurutier 2
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Efuru
WikipediaLead
Efuru is the debut novel by Flora Nwapa, which was published in 1966 as number 26 in Heinemann's African Writers Series, making it the first book written by a Nigerian woman, or any sub-Saharan African woman, to be published internationally.
Lead paragraph
Efuru is the debut novel by Flora Nwapa, which was published in 1966 as number 26 in Heinemann's African Writers Series, making it the first book written by a Nigerian woman, or any sub-Saharan African woman, to be published internationally. The novel is about Efuru, an Igbo woman who lives in a small village in colonial West Africa.
In Genre: The Novel, Lead section
Efuru is the debut novel by Flora Nwapa, which was published in 1966 as number 26 in Heinemann's African Writers Series, making it the first book written by a Nigerian woman, or any sub-Saharan African woman, to be published internationally.
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