The Son of the House

"Celebrating the resilience of women as they navigate and transform what remains a man's world. In the city of Enugu in the 1970s, young Nwabulu dreams of becoming a typist as she endures her employers' endless chores. Although a housemaid since the age of ten, she is tall and beautiful and in love with a rich man's son. Educated and privileged, Julie is a modern woman. Living on her own, she is happy to collect the gold jewellery love-struck Eugene brings her, but has no intention of becoming his second wife. When dramatic events straight out of a movie force Nwabulu and Julie into a dank room years later, the two women relate the stories of their lives as they await their fate. Pulsing with vitality and intense human drama, Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia's debut is set against four decades of vibrant Nigeria, and celebrates the resilience of women as they navigate and transform what remains a man's world."--

Prize history

• Scotiabank Giller Prize

  2021

  Shortlist