A Review of Bisi Adjapon’s “The Teller of Secrets”
The Teller of a Feminist Tale
Sometimes, I like to push myself out of my comfort zone as a white, privileged male book reader and reviewer. Not too long ago, I selected a bunch of novels written by people of colour from the platforms where I grab new books from. I was hopeful that I could use my position to help out those who are perhaps marginalized, but my entreaties were rejected by just about every publisher — all except for one or two. And so that is how I’ve come to read Bisi Adjapon’s debut novel The Teller of Secrets, a book that was generously provided to me by HarperVia. This novel expanded my horizons and worldview a little further, and it doesn’t hurt that the book is championed by none other than the writer of heart-breaking genius himself, Dave Eggers. (But that’s probably the white, privileged male in me speaking there in acknowledging that I wanted to read this book after it was favourably blurbed by a popular white author.) Originally published in 2018 in Africa under the title Of Women and Frogs, The Teller of Secrets is a coming-of-age story of a young girl who discovers feminism and tries to push against (with varying degrees of success) the expectations of society in post-colonial Ghana of the 1970s and ’80s. (However, the book doesn’t offer a clue as to the years of the setting until about halfway through the book, which is a knock against it.) If you know anything about West Africa during this period, it was a tumultuous time — with coups and military dictatorships ruling the land. So, in part, The Teller of Secrets is about trying to make do when people are getting shot around you.
However, this is more a story about one girl’s sexual awaking. When we meet the main character Esi Agyekum, who narrates the story in the first-person singular, she is nine, living in Ghana and discovering that her father is having an affair with a house servant. Her mother has been missing since she was four years old but is presumed to be living in Nigeria, where she’s from. As Esi is discovering her father’s extra-marital affair, a young boy attempts to have sex with her. When her aunt finds out, Esi is punished by having ginger rubbed on her vagina and is forced to sit on a chamber pot filled with scathing hot water. From there, we watch as Esi grows up and goes to boarding school, where the threat of being caned for acting out is a threat and where Esi discovers masturbation and sex with other girls her age. The book follows her to university where she is engaged to a male student named Rudolph — and the relationship turns out to be more than a bit problematic — while she can’t help but truly be in love with a cousin (though not by blood) who lives in Nigeria.
As you can tell by that synopsis, The Teller of Secrets is a very episodic tale. But it is a striking one, even though it is, at times, a tad too predictable. For one thing, the narration style of Esi changes and becomes more sophisticated as the character matures. We truly see the world through her eyes at various ages throughout the book. And even though Esi faces a lot of abuse that was typically hurled at women in post-colonial Ghana, she has spunk and a seemingly positive way of looking at things — which makes her a charming and compelling character. The success of the novel largely rests upon her shoulders, and the novel ultimately succeeds because she’s so engaging to be with. She changes opinions throughout the novel as it progresses, yet the book doesn’t stop becoming readable. Read this book if you want to fall in love with a fictitious person.
That all said, there are a few flaws with the work, probably because this is a first book. For one thing, the social and political climate of the time is seen through Esi, so we don’t get a lot of depth in terms of how what’s happening around her is described. Thus, one day Esi wakes up and decides she’s a feminist, without much understanding how she became that way — forcing readers to read between the vague lines. We don’t get a lot of description about culture and geography, which means that, if you’re unfamiliar with the region this story is set in, you may have a troubling time making pictures in your head as to the setting. Again, the years in which this novel is set aren’t even mentioned until the book’s midpoint, and then, towards the end, there are fleeting references to Bob Marley and Eddie Murphy, so you have to assume that suddenly the reader has been thrust into the early or mid-‘80s. Therefore, The Teller of Secrets can be a confusing read at times.
Still, the book does have its merit, and I can now see what turns meek and feeble girls into somewhat stronger-minded women and why feminism is so appealing to many of them. The conditions girls faced in Ghana during the time in which the book was set are simply appalling, and even other women are to blame for some of the ill that befalls Esi. The whole book is an appeal to shuck tradition and move on to something more humane and progressive. For that reason, The Teller of Secrets is a brave and uncompromising novel. It might be a bit overlong, and it ends cleaning up a plot point while Esi’s fate as a woman in Ghana remains unknown, but this is still worth reading. The Teller of Secrets has a lot to say about the power of writing things down to reveal injustices and is often funny and lighthearted despite the prejudices depicted against women in this book. If anything, it proves Bisi Adjapon is a writer of talent and is worth keeping an eyeball or two on. The Teller of Secrets hints at an even better book she seems poised to write, as this one certainly has its merits. I’m so glad I was receptive to reading something I otherwise would have skipped over given my own personal tastes lean towards the weird and fantastic. Read this book, and, maybe, buy a copy for a friend. This is pretty good stuff.
Bisi Adjapon’s The Teller of Secrets was published by HarperVia on November 16, 2021.
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