{PMONKZ BOOK REVIEW} EVERYTHING GOOD WILL COME BY POETOBY

Everything Good Will Come by  Sefi Atta, won the Wole Soyinka prize for literature in 2006.
   This Novel tells the story of Enitan, a young Nigerian woman growing up in her native homeland coping with the demands of the patriarchal society that encompasses her. Enitan is raised in a divided home struggling to identify herself in the midst of her mother’s strong religious beliefs and her father’s manipulative political ways. Due to her being an only child and the death of her brother, her parents have strict demands that restrict her from having a normal childhood. Her rebellious nature is first seen when she defies her mother’s wishes and leaves the house on Sundays to play with the girl next door, Sheri, who is considered “yellow” because her father is Muslim and her mother is a white English woman. Sheri is a young girl who is sassy with a rebellious nature, constantly testing those around her, while craving the attention of any man. Their friendship builds as they continue to defy Enitan’s mother by seeing each other. The girls are soon forced to separate; Enitan is sent to a school across seas to receive a better education than those offered in Lagos. Her father, an educated lawyer, wants the best for Enitan and hopes that she will take over his firm once she has finished school and proves herself as a lawyer. Sheri and Enitan keep in touch, writing letters back and forth telling about school, boys, and when they will meet again. During a holiday visit home, Enitan and Sheri met and went to a party. Enitan, who doesn’t feel comfortable in the situation, wants to leave. On her way out, she witnesses the three men pinning Sheri down raping her and bruising her body as they degrade her. The image of Sheri’s rape affects Enitan’s ability to allow herself to trust men. The aftermath of Sheri’s rape leads to a partial termination of their friendship and Sheri being sent to the hospital due to the attempt to abort
Years pass and Enitan returns to Lagos to stay with her father and work under him to start her career as a lawyer. Enitan runs into Sheri one afternoon and reconnects from there. Sheri is a mistress to a Muslim brigadier, who pays for her living and gives Sheri a good life. Sheri believes in playing the system rather than settling down with a man because she is aware of the lack of individualism a woman receives once she becomes married in their society.
Enitan gradually becomes closer with a man by the name of Niyi Franco, a struggling artist who is separated from his only child who was taken away by his ex-wife when they moved to Britain. This relationship quickly becomes a marriage. Enitan at first feels comfort and safety in Niyi’s arms, but their relationship is soon tested when Enitan refuses to submit herself to his demanding ways. She fails to carry a child for him and in addition to the stress from her failing marriage, her father’s political outspokenness forces her to defend his statement resulting in nights in jail. Enitan proceeds to join a group of women in the fight against the government for women’s rights during her pregnancy. Her drive to make change is frowned upon by her husband who wants her to stay at home and take on “women-like” tasks. Niyi’s lack of support for his wife’s beliefs, along with her unwillingness to concede to Niyi’s requests, leads to their separation. Enitan continues to stand up for what she believes in: wanting women to have the ability to choose whether or not they will be submissive in society with hopes for individuality.