Under the Udala Trees

The novel jumps a few years ahead to 1970, when Ijeoma joins her mother in Aba and begins her lessons. These lessons will eventually turn out to be an attempt to Biblically cure her lesbianism. Adaora fetched Ijeoma from Nnewi to cast out a “demon” (59).

Earlier, when Ijeoma was a housegirl for the grammar school teacher, Adaora built a new life in Aba. When she first got there, her parents’ bungalow was a ruin and contained a corpse. Neighbors recognized her, and helped her fix up the bungalow and build her shop. The long reconstruction process is Adaora’s justification for not reuniting with Ijeoma sooner.

The narrative returns to Ijeoma’s first week in Aba; during this time, Adaora avoids her. When their second week together begins, Adaora tells Ijeoma in the kitchen that they will start “cleansing her soul” (65).

At the kitchen table, Adaora has Ijeoma read the Bible alongside her. The first 15-minute lesson begins with Genesis and the story of Adam and Eve. Passages are included both in Igbo and English, and Adaora focuses on the heteronormative pairing. Adaora insists Ijeoma wear a black prayer scarf to show her “true penitence” (67).