Frail Flesh

(Copy provided to The Kindle Book Review.)

From Goodreads:
"Otto Alexander rose from a troubled childhood to build a business empire. Roan Joseph got past a teenage trauma to become a self-made, confident and career-driven woman. The day they met, their achievements got a new meaning and a new definition. Putting all aside, they plunge into a love affair both never knew they had capacity for. But this love will face the toughest storms. Can it survive?"

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 I had no expectations beyond what I'd read in the plot synopsis when I started this book. But by the second chapter, I had to look up the location of the story because I was feeling like a fish out of water. Turns out it's set in Nigeria, and as the book is written by a Nigerian author, I'm going to take it as an accurate portrayal of life in urban Nigeria. That in itself fascinated me—the culture seemed to teeter between the older ideals of a submissive woman/dominant man and the newer concept of independent women who have their own careers and sense of place. It was the clash of the two ideals that led to the conflict of the story as Otto had to turn himself into a better man in order to have a chance with Roan (roh-an). And it wasn't easy—Ms. Ogunyinka wrote it well.

 The thing that bothered me was that the main characters suddenly proclaimed their conversion to Christianity, but there was nothing leading up to that—no explorations with going to church, meeting other people who live the religious life, making the life-changing decision to become Christian and forsake their former way of living. In my experience, true conversion, the kind that comes from the heart, takes time and wrestling with your worldview in order to have a lasting effect. I would have liked to seen more of that in the story—it would make it easier to believe that the characters truly had changed their ways. But Ms. Ogunyinka's voice makes the story compelling. That and the plot drew me in, despite the fact that I found Otto to be completely repellent at first. I rooted for Roan and I wanted better for her—I wanted her to understand herself. The ending was difficult, but I think it was believable. Overall, this was a good read.

Gentle Reader Alert: There was a traumatic event in the beginning that is revealed in greater detail throughout the book, but nothing graphic about the event is presented.