Musings: Changes - A Love Story

This title is being reviewed as part of Jodie from Bookgazing's Small Press Fortnight.

I found Changes:  A Love Story in a charity shop in Jackson, WY.  I had never heard of it before, but the blurb on the back really drew me in.  I rarely cut and paste book descriptions, but I figure since this one worked for me, maybe it will work for you, too:

Changes portrays the conflicts between professional women whose lives have changed drastically and men whose lives and cultural assumptions remain unchanged.  Married and with a daughter as the novel opens, Esi chooses divorce and a life focused on work.  When she falls in love with an attractive man - married, wealthy, and able to arrange a polygamous marriage - the modern woman finds herself a new set of problems.  Witty and fast-paced, Changes never misses an opportunity for social satire.

I have since done some research via SparkNotes and Wikipedia and discovered that the author, Ama Ata Aidoo, is pretty awesome.  She was born in pre-independence Ghana to a set of very progressive parents.  Her father was a village chief who encouraged education, particularly in his own daughter.  Aidoo went to college and created a sensation with her writing.  She is a serious feminist and her plays, novels, and short stories all demonstrate the link between Ghanaian independence and increased independence for African women.  She also explores the link between education and independence.

This book sometimes felt more like a study or treatise than a novel.  Aidoo has ideas and she makes very clear what they are.  The characters did not have strong, well-developed personalities, but seemed more like symbols.  Esi was the ambitious and and career-minded woman who felt that her husband was holding her back and demanding too much of her.  She leaves him so that she can focus more on her job and be accountable only to herself for her actions.  Opokuya has a difficult job as a midwife, but keeps herself sane by reminding herself that there are many women in Africa who are not as lucky as she is.  Ali is a successful entrepreneur who was educated in Europe and considers himself very modern and cosmopolitan, but he also treats women as possessions and takes full advantage of the privileges that being a successful male affords him.

Many of the themes that Aidoo touches upon are universal.  Many women struggle with the same issues Esi did, wanting everything - independence, career advancement, and companionship.  Ali's first wife, Fusena, realizes that she gave up a lot to support her husband's career advancement at her own expense, and that because of this, she becomes duller and less attractive to him as their marriage continues.  So much so that he tells her that he wants to take a second wife.

I also enjoyed the cadence and style of Aidoo's writing.  It was very different than what I was used to as she would insert poem- or proverb-type lines into the narrative, like this:

In fact, they let her know that she was unwelcome, and a burden they did not know what to do with.

Having to deal with a man who is over-qualified for a
job is bad enough.
To have to cope with an over-qualified woman in any
situation is a complete misfortune.

It serves to change the pace of the story, make you take a moment and consider those words specifically.  It was  a little odd to me, but I appreciated encountering such a different writing style than that I am used to.

This was an interesting but very depressing novel (not at love story at all, in my opinion).  I enjoyed the function more than the form, but nonetheless found it a thought-provoking and interesting read.