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Summary
In her debut novel, The Parlour Wife, Folusho Agbaje tells the story of Kehinde, a young woman who is denied the right to education and choice of a husband. Through Kehinde's lens, readers see the struggle of a woman who is shackled to a patriarchal society.
‘Why should women sacrifice their dreams for the the family? This question lingers throughout Folusho’s debut novel, The Parlour Wife. In a society, where being a woman comes at a cost, Kehinde, the protagonist in the novel, is denied the right to continue her education. Rather, her parents chose to marry her off to a polygamous man as his third while her twin, Taiwo continued his education.
Just like the title depicts, “Parlour Wife” means a woman who is married to an older man and expected to maintain a perfect image in dressing and appearance such that she becomes a new furniture acquired to be publicly display to friends and family. But the heroine in Folusho’s book is the opposite of the norm. Set during World War Two, Kehinde is a young woman who was cheated of her big dream in consideration for her twin, Taiwo. Forced to place others before her, she succumbed to pressure to become Mr Akinjobi’s third wife at the young age of 18.
As she navigated her role as the expected parlour wife of Mr Akinjobi, Kehinde confronted and challenged patriarchal norms, colonial oppression, and political subjugation. Joining the Lagos Market Women’s Association and their protests against the unjust taxation of women marks her transformation from a docile wife to a public resistance. The journey of Kehinde finding her voice emphasised the importance of women’s self-articulation. Her activism, writing, gradual assertiveness, and clear defiance to pursue her love for Emeka reveal her feminist maturation in real time.
Thematically, female solidarity is a crucial tool to the plot development of the novel. Putting aside her fear and prioritising herself, Kehinde’s interactions with the Lagos Market Women Association (LMMA) is a potential catalyst that portray the presents day women supporting women.
