You study hard in school, go to a good university, get a good job, find a husband, get married, have children and live happily ever after. At least that’s the expectation except it hasn’t worked out for Yinka. She has the degree and the job but no husband and her mother and aunties are on a mission to find her one. With her cousin Rachel getting married, and she has but a few months to find a date for the wedding. Armed with post-it notes and a planner, she sets off on a mission to find a date for the wedding.
Yinka Where is Your Huzband deals with many important issues including colourism and the effect it has on some women’s self esteem, the pressure that women from certain African communities go through if they are still single by a certain age, religion, and the importance of seeking therapy when it is needed.
I enjoyed reading the book. It was an easy read and it kept me engaged but I cannot say that I was blown away by it. I like the fact that it deals with everyday issues that black women go through without being overburdening with questions of race and identity, although they are touched on lightly. I also like that Yinka embraces counselling even though she is hell bent against it at the beginning. As a community we tend to not consider therapy as a way of dealing with our issues and in fact frown upon it. I like that it was normalised in the book.
There are two things that I struggled with. I found Yinka utterly infuriating, at some points, I felt like grabbing her and giving her a good shake to make her see sense. I question how credible she is as a character. She’s supposed to be intelligent, Oxbridge educated, with an extended social circle, and yet she’s incredibly naive.
I also found the book very predictable. The moment Donovan came into the story I knew exactly what was going to happen. And I pretty much predicted at every turn what was going to happen next for Yinka, be it with her mother, her aunts or the men that she had liaisons with. Overall, I would give it a three out of five stars, it was an enjoyable but not compelling.
