Welcome to the African Women in Novels, a Podcast by Eileen Omosa, a Sociologist writing and publishing Romance and Women’s Fiction books.  

In the podcast, I reference books set in African to discuss how African women are portrayed in novels? During our discussions, I ask my guests and listeners for their views on a variety of issues, including the following three questions:   

1.    Is the role of an African girl set long before she is born, or is she free to choose the life she desires?  

2.    The second question is - what role do African women play in shaping existing narratives on gender relations? 

3.    And question number three, does education open more opportunities or conflicts for African women?

 Stay on to the end of this episode to learn about the journeys and roads traveled by some girls and women. For those of you in the development sector, or scholars or writers wanting to comprehend issues of human agency and decision-making—the issues I raise in this podcast provide some starting point to your understanding of the position of the African girl or woman in society, and the broader topic of gender and gender relations. 

 Episode  

In today’s episode which I am recording on the 6th of May, it is a follow-up from the last episode where we discussed some of the reasons which get women to linger longer in bad marriages. Since that episode, some listeners have asked questions, so in today’s episode, which is Episode twelve of the Podcast, I continue the discussion on marriage by focusing on the following question, Is marriage an individual or community affair? 

 Whenever the term arranged marriage is mentioned, many people will think of Asia and Africa. The term arranged marriage is mostly used in reference to a marriage which results after parents, relatives or elders consult on the marriage of their son or daughter and inform the young people of the person to marry. In many communities the practice has evolved from the couple meeting for the first time at their wedding ceremony, to a situation where the parents/elders create an environment where their young people meet, fall in love and marry – in most cases with least objections from their parents or relatives. 

 What does that tell us? Maybe, that arranged marriages exist in all parts of the world, with variations in the interference of parents, relatives or elders. To start us off, I will list a number of incidents and leave you to conclude if they qualify as part of “the arranged.” 

1.    Is the coming together, courtship and marriage arranged if enabled by their parents, relatives, friends, employment environment? For example, 

a.    What do we call it if your marriage resulted from your parents being friends with the family of your spouse, or if a friend or relative brought along their friend and invited you to a function where you met and fell in love. 

b.    If your parents or relatives chose to employ the young man or woman at your family enterprise and you ended up falling in love. 

c.     Or, if your parents or relatives encouraged you to attend church or enrolled you at some social event so you could meet with other young people. 

d.    Does it count as arranged if your parents said no to your choice of a marriage partner, or they supported and fully participated in your marriage ceremony, etc. All these could qualify as, “arranged marriages,” – all depends on how we analyze the type of unions currently classified as arranged marriages. 

Though I am not an expert on the topic of arranged marriages, I have read enough novels, most of them set in the Western world and will base my comments on how the idea of courtship and marriage is presented in the lite

African Women in Novels Podcast by Eileen Omosa 

 episode Eleven – Why African woman Linger in Harmful Relationships  

Welcome to the African Women in Novels, a Podcast by Eileen Omosa, a Sociologist writing and publishing Romance and Women’s Fiction novels. 

In the podcast, I reference books set in African to discuss how African women are portrayed in novels? During our discussions, I ask my guests and listeners for their views on a variety of issues, including the following three questions:   

1.    Is the role of an African girl set long before she is born, or is she free to choose the life she desires?  

2.    The second question is - what role do African women play in shaping existing narratives on gender relations? 

3.    And question number three, does education open more opportunities or conflicts for African women?

Stay on to the end of this episode to learn about the journeys and roads traveled by some girls and women. For those of you in the development sector, or scholars or writers wanting to comprehend issues of human agency and decision-making—the issues I raise in this podcast provide some starting point to your understanding of the position of the African girl or woman in society, and the broader topic of gender and gender relations. 

 In today’s episode, Episode eleven of the Podcast, I focus on a question I have been asked or heard others asked, and my guess is, you have been asked, or heard someone struggle to answer the following question: “This or that African woman has a good education, a degree or degrees, a well-paying job and a promising career ahead of them, why can’t she pack and leave? 

This question mostly relates to situations where a young woman is struggling to, for example convince her parents to let her marry the man she loves, or she does not want to marry into the family they prefer. Or, if already married and having problems with her husband, many will say, I would pack and leave the next day. 

 I have read different views in novels. I read a lot of books, two or three per week, novels set in different parts of the world. So, I partly understand where this question or thinking comes from. In some of the books I have read, especially those set in the global North, many times when one of the parents or relatives try to interfere with a romance between two people, they will not hesitate to tell the parent, their mother or father something like this – “You can only come to my wedding if you accept my choice of a partner, if that does not go well with you, you don’t have to attend.” And they move on with their wedding, marriage, and life. 

 In answering the question above, on why the African woman cannot pack and leave, I will share some information on where the African girl or woman, or man are coming from, leave you with enough details to ponder.

 A typical African family, especially in many rural areas starts with parents and their children, your typical nuclei family in other parts of the world. But, unlike in some communities where definition of a family ends with parents and children, there is a big difference for the African family. Father, mother, and children is just the beginning of who these individuals are. 

Each of the family members is linked to another level of individuals, aka, extended family, which builds into something like this:  

·      Each child is linked to their siblings as children of their parents, and each individual child to the other based on their gender, age and if older or younger to the other.

 ·      Each child has a relationship with their parents – as a child, as a boy or girl child, and as a first, last, or in-between child. 

What does that tell us? Each child wi

African Women in Novels Podcast by Eileen Omosa 

Welcome to episode ten of the African Women in Novels, a Podcast by Eileen Omosa, a Sociologist writing and publishing fiction in contemporary romance and Whodunit mysteries.

In the podcast, I reference books set in African to discuss how African women are portrayed in novels? During our discussions, I ask my guests and listeners for their views on a variety of issues, including the following questions:   

1.    Is the role of an African girl set long before she is born, or is she free to choose the life she desires?  

2.    The second question is - what role do African women play in shaping existing narratives on gender relations? 

3.    In 2021 I have added a third question - Does education open more opportunities or conflicts for African women? What does it take for a woman to balance career and cultural expectations?    

Stay on to the end of this episode to learn the journeys and roads traveled by some of the girls and women. For those of you who work in the development sector or scholars wanting to comprehend issues of human agency and decision-making– the issues I raise in this podcast provide some starting point to follow on-going narratives the position of the African girl or woman in society, and the broader topic of gender and gender relations. 

 I write and publish novels with a special focus on African women, but men are everywhere in the book – the reason being that the girls and women operate within families and communities where men are part of the set up. 

One unique reality of being a writer is that whenever an idea strikes or hits, it can persist, keep interrupting until one has few options but to sit and write. I write novels on change and adaptation, through which I seek to provide insights into the life of African girls and women who has attained high school to university level of education and are on a journey of becoming career women. The contemporary novels are in the genres of Women’s Fiction and romance. Within the genres, I write three different, but related series:  

1.    An African Woman’s Journey, made up of the following book titles: Ignited by Education, Slowed by a Baby, and Trapped Inside the Family Box – I use Sophia, a fictional character to ask and provide insights into the question on how African girls who have attained a minimum of university education navigate life while trying to balance career and cultural expectations? 

2.    An Immigrant’s Marriage is my second Trilogy, comprised of the following book titles: The Fear Within Us, the Family Between Us, and The Love Within Us. Through these novels, I ask and provide insights into how young Africans in Diaspora, especially those who live in the Western hemisphere, navigate the world of courtship and marriage. Since they live in a free world, how free are they from their extended families to make decisions and choices on whom to marry? Follow Omondi and Abikok, fictional characters from Kenya and South Sudan. They live in Canada where they meet and fall in love. Read the Trilogy to find out how free they are while they make decisions on their marriage.

In the last three or so months, a new book idea captured and held my attention and time. What about children from wealthy African families in African. How do they navigate the world of romance and marriage? Thus, my latest Series, To Love Outside the Club. The focus is how children from wealthy African families choose marriage partners? 

One assumption held by many people is that individuals and families that have acquired higher education, wealth and moved out of rural settings into cities, leave their cultural practices behind. Cities and other urban settings enable them freedom to make indi

 African Women in Novels Podcast by Eileen Omosa 

Transcript for episode NINE – African Women in Crime Mystery novels 

Welcome to the African Women in Novels, a Podcast by Eileen Omosa, a Sociologist writing Wholesome Romance and Whodunit Crime Mysteries. 

In the podcast, I reference books set in African to discuss how African women are portrayed in novels? During our discussions, I ask my guests and listeners for their views on a variety of issues, including the following two questions:   

1. Is the role of an African girl set long before she is born, or is she free to choose the life she desires?  
2. The second question is - what role do African women play in shaping existing narratives on gender relations? 

Stay on to the end of this episode to learn the journeys and roads traveled by some girls and women. For those of you who work in the development sector – the issues I raise in this podcast can provide a lens through which to understand on-going narratives on gender and gender relations. 

In today’s episode, I review the role of African women as presented in mystery books. I have read a range of mystery books set in Africa, from way back, the times and books of Wilbur Smith to one book published yesterday. What I have noted is that unlike books in the other genres where women are presented as weak and waiting to be rescued, in mystery books, especially those with private and amateur detectives, the women are presented as having power and agency. 

If I can use one example, books in the series No. 1 ladies detective agency by Alexander McCall Smith, most, if not all the women in that series are presented as having power and agency – From Mma Precious Ramotswe, the main character, the female detective, to Grace her assistant and all her women friends. The women are involved, visible, actively engaged in not only bettering themselves and their families, but in solving other people’s problems, society’s problems. In future episodes I will focus on some individual titles to further discuss the narrative set by women in mystery novels. 

 In today’s episode I will narrow down to a novel I published yesterday, the first of October 2020 – for those listening to this episode at a later date. The book titled, Night Secrets at Three Hills Town is a whodunit murder mystery. A shopkeeper is murdered, reported to the local police who close the case as a robbery gone wrong. Naserian, a 57-year-old Maasai widow decides to investigate – she’s determined to find the killer or killers of her friend, the shop keeper. 

I will start by reading the blurb from the back cover: 

Charity Naserian, a 57-year-old widow, needs to escape the wrath of her co-wives. She deserts Korusei village with a bag full of money and one vow, never to return, even after her daughters warn her of dangers in urban centers. Her destination? Three Hills Town, a peaceful urban center where she plans to start life afresh. 

To keep busy, she makes and sells Maasai beaded jewelry from outside Roadside Enterprises Grocery Store. Her business is picking up in the right direction, but she quickly realizes she never left all her troubles in Korusei. When early morning shoppers find Caspar, the proprietor of Roadside Enterprises, murdered in his shop, and the police term the case a robbery gone wrong, Naserian is determined to find the killer of her friend. 

While selling her beaded jewelry, Naserian is a typical Maasai woman, but inside, she is an avid detective. And that is her undoing. The deeper she searches for Caspar’s killer, the more secrets she exposes and drives her suspects furious. She learns the hard way, that people of Three Hills have well-kept secrets. 

Can this amateur sleuth find Caspar’s killer before it turns the peaceful town into a fearful place to l

In the podcast, I reference books set in African to discuss how African women are portrayed in novels? During our discussions, I ask my guests and listeners for their views on a variety of issues, including the following two questions:   

1.    Is the role of an African girl set long before she is born, or is she free to choose the life she desires?  

2.    The second question is - what role do African women play in shaping existing narratives on gender relations? 

Stay on to the end of this episode to learn the journeys and roads traveled by some of girls and women. For those of you who work in the development sector – the issues I raise in this podcast can provide a lens through which to view gender and gender relations as a basis towards the achievement of development objectives. 

 In today’s episode, I take you on a global journey where I revisit some of the novels I have read, to highlight common issues that speak to the role of women in enhancing existing narratives on gender relations as portrayed in some novels. 

Please note that I will not attribute the emerging issues to any book titles – the issues I discuss here are global, what I have gathered from the many books I have read, books set in different parts of the world. In future episodes of the podcast, I will narrow down to specific book titles when I invite guests to discuss individual book titles. So, what is…

 The role of women in enhancing existing narratives in novels on gender relations. 

As mentioned above, the narrative I will discuss here relates to the two questions I asked above:

1.    The first narrative is that the role of an African girl is set long before she is born. If this is true, why? If the statement does not hold, then, to what extent can or has she been able to choose the life she desires?  

2.    The second narrative is that African women play a role in shaping existing narratives on gender relations? If the women play a role, how are their roles or activities presented in novels? 

Based on the novels I have read over the years, and they are many, I will start the discussion by exploring some of the roles and tasks considered to be the domain of African girls and women: For my own clarity, I will begin within the household and branch out into the work place, and marriage.

 As with all novels, writers make their characters whole, believable by showing them as they experience their daily lives, within larger households.   

In many novels set in Africa, whether focusing on the young girls or older characters within the home, we read of girls performing tasks within the house and compound. The tasks include: 

o   Cleaning the family house 

o   Prepare and serve meals to the family 

o   Wash clothes and clean dishes 

o   Fetch water and firewood 

o   Cultivate vegetables in the family garden 

o   Take care of babies/children 

o   Take care of sick family members 

o   Till the land 

o   Go to the market and shop for household items 

Whenever they fail to meet the set standards of, for example a clean home, clean utensils, well cooked and tasty food, and more – we read of society questioning their mothers who in turn have to teach their daughters. 

Many of us must have read novels where girls go into seclusion before marriage – to perfect their cooking skills, lest the in-laws make fun of the mothers of the said bride if she cannot prepare a certain food item, or keep a neat house at her new home.  

In many homes or societies, there are norms surrounding these... 

In this episode I share common themes and issues specific to books set in Africa.

In this episode I revisit episode one to five and analyze emerging issues in the following order: 

• Why not focus on Black Women 
• Household chores Vs child labour 
• Gender based economic enterprises 
• From timid village girls to empowered city women 
• The source of women's agency 
• Men encounter different types of problems 
• Love and friendships boost women's confidence 
• Does culture overpower one's agency? 

In this episode I reference books to discuss the source of some of the problems that African women face - are the challenges caused by men or fellow women? 

In this podcast, we reference books set in Africa to discuss how men are portrayed in novels. 

African Women in Novels, a podcast where I reference books set in Africa to discuss how African Girls and Women are portrayed in Novels.