The middle daughter is a story of a young lady, Nani, the middle daughter of three. 

Born into a wealthy and loving family. 

The first daughter's name is Udodi and the last one is Ugo. 

This is a  short story, less than 300 pages. 

They call their father Doda. Doda loves his children so much, and wants the best for them. He believes in giving his children quality education over marriage contrary to the belief that his family has. 

The book takes back and forth from the past when the girls were little, to the present-2014. 

Doda's first daughter, Udodi was studying in the United states of America when she died in a car accident. 

The passing of Udodi affected the family badly, especially the middle daughter Nani, but they were able to move on again. During this period, Nani grew closer to her Dad. He realised she was withdrawn a bit so he started taking her out and they would go on dates.

Until another tragedy befell them two years later.  Doda became sick, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was healthy for a while, but he later passed on. 

Nani was inconsolable. Her father had broken something in her. She hated her sister and mother for moving on easily. 

Nani confides in a weird man that comes to their gate everyday to preach.

I feel she did this because she had not processed the loss of her father and her sister properly.

This weird man is Ephraim and he turns out to be a big nemesis to Nani life. 

One thing I liked about this book was the opportunity to read more than one point of view. I was able to read Ephraim pov. Here is a short paragraph. 

Everything in Heaven and on Earth is ordained. There is no barricade elevated enough, no barbed wire sharp enough to keep God’s word from manifesting. Nani does not know this but our meeting is not ordinary happenstance. From the premier day when the compass of the Lord directed my trajectory to her and her beauty consumed me like a huge conflagration, I settled the matter within me that my wandering eyes would cease to cast themselves upon others. Nani’s beauty is coruscating like the morning sun, succulent like a ripe tomato. She is more beautiful than the roses in her garden. Her lips are like those of a siren. When she opens her mouth I want to fall inside it and construct an abode for myself. Mon Dieu! I cannot respire."

Yinmu. Very silly goat. 

And let's just say Ephraim is a predator. 

So one fateful day, he convinced Nani to follow him to church vigil and because Nani couldn't go back home after the vigil. He invited her to stay at his place overnight. 

He raped Nani. (Im reminiscing the feelings i experienced while reading this part rn and it was heart wrenching, it gets worse btw). 

Nani gets home, she starts ignoring him but she doesn't tell anyone what has happened.

Ephraim keeps coming to her gate everyday to look for her, like he expected her to forget what has happened. (Growls angrily) 

Nani got pregnant and she couldn't confide in her mum or her sister. (This part, I wanted her to tell her mummy or her sister everything, even the gateman😭😭.  I mean, reporting this man when it happened could have easily prevented this but then even the biggest money in your account cannot protect you from men. In short, she didn't know any better.)

And even after she got pregnant, she went to Ephraim and told him she was pregnant. That was where the whole calamity began. 

Ephraim said they had to get married, that it was God-ordained, that if a man sleeps with a lady and a child is produced as a result, they must get married. So many lies and nonsense. She was naive and had no idea of what was better and she felt she deserved him as a punishment even when she had done nothing wrong. 

So Nani married Ephraim, and the years she lived under his roof would be the worst years in her life, he would beat her and rape her. 

One time he burnt her with iron because someone had complimented her. Ephraim hated Nani like madd. Ahh. Another reason was, he had approached Nani with the hope of tapping into her family's wealth but Nani wanted nothing to do with her mother due to some circumstances. 

Nani would later have three children for Ephraim. Two boys and a girl. Nani the loved child would later turn into a battered woman who flinches anytime her husband is home, bites her fingernails and hates her husband enough to attempt murder. 

If trauma is your thing. This book is for you because I remember skipping and going back again for the sake of this review. 

Ugo, her younger sister and her mum had travelled to the United States for a while after her marriage with Ephraim. 

Ugo tried to speak to her sister when she went to Ephraim but Nani thought Ephraim was her punishment for an offense she didn't even commit so she stayed and lied that she loved him. 

Nani will later decide that she has had enough of Ephraim, so she called Ugo and told her everything. She reconnected with her aunt, her mother's sister, who helped her a lot. 

The scene where Ephraim was arrested has to be my favourite scene from the book. 

The werey said "Nani?" Lmao. When police chased him inside their dingy apartment because he tried to run, I wished someone had thrown a big stick that would have landed on his head.  

This book is a good read because it portrays reality. Its a sad read but it's a good one. 

The only issue I have with the book is, it seems the target audience of the author are readers that understand igbo. There were some sentences I did not understand and there was no meaning written for them, these sentences  are few, it can put you off a bit but it's a good read overall. 

Its a 6/10 for me.