--- product_id: 42302152 title: "Under The Udala Trees" price: "€ 28.18" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 9 url: https://www.desertcart.pt/products/42302152-under-the-udala-trees store_origin: PT region: Portugal --- # Under The Udala Trees **Price:** € 28.18 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Under The Udala Trees - **How much does it cost?** € 28.18 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.pt](https://www.desertcart.pt/products/42302152-under-the-udala-trees) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description desertcart.com: Under The Udala Trees: 9780544811799: Okparanta, Chinelo: Books Review: ... is a breathtaking narrative that combines difficult-to-discuss subjects with beautiful prose. Her story of Ijeoma - Chinelo Okparanta's Under the Udala Trees is a breathtaking narrative that combines difficult-to-discuss subjects with beautiful prose. Her story of Ijeoma, a young girl whose family is changed forever during the Biafran and who is forced to form her own idea about love and the world in the absence of parental guidance, is moving and provocative. Okparanta makes readers question the foundation of love and homophobia, the religious ties between the two, and the implications of this connection or lack thereof on the Queer psyche. Her exploration of public, familial, and self acceptance in a society that is not accepting is poignant and breathtaking. The plot never feels forced and her characters make decisions that are very true to human nature and behavior. Okparanta does not idealize or gloss over painful situations. Instead, she acknowledges the pain of suffering and indecision without wallowing in it. If you are looking for a thought-provoking, well written story I would highly recommend purchasing a copy of Under the Udala Trees. Review: Simplicity and Tenacity - Under the Udala Trees tracks the life and loves of Ijeoma, a Nigerian girl who discovers at a young age that she loves women and not men. Beginning with her experience of the war between Biafra and the Nigerian government, we follow Ijeoma when she is sent to another village to be a housegirl, where she meets her first love. As she journeys through a life of heartbreak and secrecy, whether at an all-girls boarding school or at an underground lesbian dance-club, we are exposed to the rawness of her mother’s attempt to cleanse her soul, the joy in her forbidden loves, and her fear and anguish when the unbending laws of the local culture tarnish her desires. “Happiness was what she called it. But I knew that happiness was a word like madness, like sickness, like confusion, like loss, like death. Even like beautiful or pure or angelic or God. Happiness was a word that represented some deeper, unexplainable, heavy idea, the kind of idea that goes back and forth between two different worlds.” Okparanta is one of those rare writers who can truly harness the power of simplicity to let the potency of the narrative shine through. Modest, unhurried language and a plot that meanders without dramatic twists and turns leave readers of Under the Udala Trees in a rare and fortunate place—one in which there is nothing left to consider but the bare truths of having a self that is forbidden. The simplicity of the prose makes it impossible to hide from the power and strength of the narrative, and although the plot is not necessarily unexpected, I found myself carried away in the treacherous and secretive lives of the Nigerian lesbian community. The book features wonderfully relatable female leads and reveals the power that a community can hold over those within it. We are shown how shame is engendered as thoroughly as a sense of belonging, and how this tension creates immense uncertainty for women (and men) who don’t quite fit the mold. Despite the masterful austere essence of the prose, sometimes I found myself wishing that Okparanta would go deeper. The simplicity made sense when the story was being told from the point of view of a child, but as Ijeoma aged the narrative style did not. For such an incredibly emotional and complex issue, it was disappointing to sense that there was so much being held back from the story. While I appreciate authors who allow the reader to complicate and intuit the deeper meaning of things, I’m not confident that this was Okparanta’s intent, and therefore find myself wishing that she had tackled these issues with a bit more grit. Given the fact that in 2014 all homosexual relationships became illegal in Nigeria, subject to at least 14 years in prison, I think this is an important book to read, and one that probably needed to be told years or decades ago. It’s easy to read but not easy to stomach—elements which I think make it a good narrative to make a wide range of people confront an issue they may know nothing about. Elise Hadden, Under the Heather Books (www.undertheheatherbooks.com) ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #374,749 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #437 in LGBTQ+ Literary Fiction (Books) #1,596 in Coming of Age Fiction (Books) #14,520 in Literary Fiction (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars (1,776) | | Dimensions | 5.31 x 0.82 x 8 inches | | Edition | Reprint | | ISBN-10 | 0544811798 | | ISBN-13 | 978-0544811799 | | Item Weight | 9.6 ounces | | Language | English | | Print length | 336 pages | | Publication date | September 20, 2016 | | Publisher | Mariner Books | ## Images ![Under The Udala Trees - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71IO7gowe4L.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ... is a breathtaking narrative that combines difficult-to-discuss subjects with beautiful prose. Her story of Ijeoma *by A***R on December 16, 2016* Chinelo Okparanta's Under the Udala Trees is a breathtaking narrative that combines difficult-to-discuss subjects with beautiful prose. Her story of Ijeoma, a young girl whose family is changed forever during the Biafran and who is forced to form her own idea about love and the world in the absence of parental guidance, is moving and provocative. Okparanta makes readers question the foundation of love and homophobia, the religious ties between the two, and the implications of this connection or lack thereof on the Queer psyche. Her exploration of public, familial, and self acceptance in a society that is not accepting is poignant and breathtaking. The plot never feels forced and her characters make decisions that are very true to human nature and behavior. Okparanta does not idealize or gloss over painful situations. Instead, she acknowledges the pain of suffering and indecision without wallowing in it. If you are looking for a thought-provoking, well written story I would highly recommend purchasing a copy of Under the Udala Trees. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Simplicity and Tenacity *by E***2 on November 30, 2015* Under the Udala Trees tracks the life and loves of Ijeoma, a Nigerian girl who discovers at a young age that she loves women and not men. Beginning with her experience of the war between Biafra and the Nigerian government, we follow Ijeoma when she is sent to another village to be a housegirl, where she meets her first love. As she journeys through a life of heartbreak and secrecy, whether at an all-girls boarding school or at an underground lesbian dance-club, we are exposed to the rawness of her mother’s attempt to cleanse her soul, the joy in her forbidden loves, and her fear and anguish when the unbending laws of the local culture tarnish her desires. “Happiness was what she called it. But I knew that happiness was a word like madness, like sickness, like confusion, like loss, like death. Even like beautiful or pure or angelic or God. Happiness was a word that represented some deeper, unexplainable, heavy idea, the kind of idea that goes back and forth between two different worlds.” Okparanta is one of those rare writers who can truly harness the power of simplicity to let the potency of the narrative shine through. Modest, unhurried language and a plot that meanders without dramatic twists and turns leave readers of Under the Udala Trees in a rare and fortunate place—one in which there is nothing left to consider but the bare truths of having a self that is forbidden. The simplicity of the prose makes it impossible to hide from the power and strength of the narrative, and although the plot is not necessarily unexpected, I found myself carried away in the treacherous and secretive lives of the Nigerian lesbian community. The book features wonderfully relatable female leads and reveals the power that a community can hold over those within it. We are shown how shame is engendered as thoroughly as a sense of belonging, and how this tension creates immense uncertainty for women (and men) who don’t quite fit the mold. Despite the masterful austere essence of the prose, sometimes I found myself wishing that Okparanta would go deeper. The simplicity made sense when the story was being told from the point of view of a child, but as Ijeoma aged the narrative style did not. For such an incredibly emotional and complex issue, it was disappointing to sense that there was so much being held back from the story. While I appreciate authors who allow the reader to complicate and intuit the deeper meaning of things, I’m not confident that this was Okparanta’s intent, and therefore find myself wishing that she had tackled these issues with a bit more grit. Given the fact that in 2014 all homosexual relationships became illegal in Nigeria, subject to at least 14 years in prison, I think this is an important book to read, and one that probably needed to be told years or decades ago. It’s easy to read but not easy to stomach—elements which I think make it a good narrative to make a wide range of people confront an issue they may know nothing about. Elise Hadden, Under the Heather Books (www.undertheheatherbooks.com) ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 2 1/2 years in the making. Stole from my goodreads (which was on time) :) :) :) *by S***A on March 13, 2019* As I had to read this for a class, I am always a little worried about those stories but I am so glad that I got to read this story. Honestly, I probably would not have read it otherwise, but I think that this book is very important. Very simply put, this book follows a young Nigerian woman as she discovers who she is and tries to be herself while also surviving a war-ridden Nigeria. This book is beautifully written and a quick read. I enjoyed every minute of it and will be trying even harden to expand my cultural genres for reading. I highly recommend this book for anyone and everyone! This book opened up my mind to realize that we cannot be taking what we get in life for granted because there are people who are worse off. It also makes me reflect upon the progress made here in the United States concerning the LGBT community compared to other places like Nigeria, but that we too still have issues to work on and are no where near perfect. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.pt/products/42302152-under-the-udala-trees](https://www.desertcart.pt/products/42302152-under-the-udala-trees) --- *Product available on Desertcart Portugal* *Store origin: PT* *Last updated: 2026-04-23*