[Review] Jam Reads: Where the Dead Brides Gather, by Nuzo Onoh
Where the Dead Brides Gather is an African horror novel, written by Nuzo Onoh, and published by Titan Books. A powerful story that mixes together Nigerian traditions and Catholicism, in a story that accurately portrays the eclectic contrast between traditional and modern aspects of life in the village, all woven around a supernatural horror that affects to women.
Bata, a ten-year-old girl, experience terrible nightmares, and wanders in her sleep; one night, she wakes up standing in front of her cousin Kezia's bedroom door, who is to be married the next morning. However, a ghost-bride is to attack Kezia; Bata is possessed and defeats the ghost-bride. The family, fearing for the worse, takes Bata to be exorcised by Dibia, a local witch doctor; but a spirit intervenes and takes her to Ibaja-la, the realm of ghost-brides, where she resides for a time and is given some powers to use in her new role as Bride Sentinel, meant to protect brides from those dangerous ghost-brides. Upon returning to the world, she's meant to protect her family, but at the same time, she will experience the cold disdain from many of her relatives, ostracising her in a Nigeria still rooted on tradition.
Bata's journey is not an easy one, and Ozoh chooses to represent it by using Bata's own voice as the narrative one; the reader can feel the struggles and the doubts experienced by her, and how she's afraid of losing those that she appreciates as a consequence of a condition she didn't ask to suffer. As a young girl, we can also see her naivety and how that will put her into a complicated situation at Ibaja-la; overall, Ozoh's characterization work is simply excellent.
The setting is one about contrasts: the modernity that is slowly reaching the village against the traditions that are firmly rooted in the people; we can also see how Nigerian people are divided among traditional religion and Catholicism, leading to some conflicts in their beliefs (such as we can see between Bata's parents). Ibaja-la itself is an interesting place, where we learn more about Nigerian folklore, while also introducing modern notions such as queer acceptance; feminism and women's empowerment is a recurring theme in this novel.
Where the Dead Brides Gather is an excellent piece of African horror, perfect if you come from a fantasy background or want to experience something different from the classical western horror; Nuzo Ozoh pretty much nailed it, and I can't recommend it enough.