The cover of Butter Honey Pig Bread features twin girls beside each other while holding hands in a farm/garden. One twin’s eyes are closed and the other’s eyes are open which may represent their duality. Butter Honey Pig Bread is an intriguing title. I had no idea of what to expect when I first heard it because the four words do not really seem to have anything in common, except for bread and butter which are eaten together. It caught my attention and I was
determined to read it.
The themes include mother-daughter relationships, mental health, food, sexuality, forgiveness, and spirituality. The novel spans three continents- Africa, Europe and North America and is divided into four parts- Butter, Honey, Pig and Bread. It is told from the perspectives of three Nigerian women- Kambirinachi, Taiye and Kehinde. Kambirinachi’s and Kehinde’s chapters are in first person but Taiye’s are in third person. Butter Honey Pig Bread tells the interrelated stories of an estranged family. Kambirinachi, the troubled mother is convinced that she is an ogbanje (Igbo translation) or abiku (Yoruba translation) which is a malevolent spirit born into a human body that repeatedly dies and is reborn by the same mother. The spirit aims to bring unending sorrow to the family into which
he or she is born. Kambirinachi fears that her decision to stay back to love and take care of her human family has inevitably brought misfortune to those around her and passed on a lifetime of tragedy to her twin daughters- Taiye and Kehinde. Her daughters grow distant after a harrowing ordeal that occurred while they were growing up in Lagos. After leaving their Lagos home, Taiye who is queer, abandons a hedonistic life in London to attend culinary school in Halifax while Kehinde finds love, gets married and becomes an artist in Montreal. During the time her daughters are abroad, Kambirinachi still keeps in touch with them (mostly Taiye).
However, their relationship is fractured so when they all reunite in their Lagos home after many years, there is tension. Kehinde makes a discovery which pushes her to try and mend fences with her sister and mother. Even though the twins eventually ended up living in the same country and did not speak for years, they were still linked physically and spiritually.
The novel had some detailed scenes focusing on meal preparation which I found unique and interesting. I think that Ekwuyasi wanted those scenes to ease some tension for readers so the book would not be solely filled with trauma. The meal preparation served as a great intermission by keeping things light without downplaying the heaviness of the subject matter. They were descriptive but did not linger. I felt like I was involved in the cooking process and this made me (understandably) hungry while reading. In order to cope with the loneliness she felt after leaving her family, Taiye speaks to an apparition. This apparition served as a voice of reason for her. I believe this was connected to her mother in a way. Since she was not there physically and knew that Taiye was lonely and hurting, this was an avenue for her to still communicate with her daughter. This may not have
worked out with Kehinde because her relationship with her was fraught, hence she would not have had access to her inner thoughts. I like the fact that Ekwuyasi decided to alternate between the women’s stories instead of dividing the novel into isolated narrations of each character’s life. Crafting the three women’s
experiences may be likened to baking a three-layered cake. Combining each ingredient (individual experiences) in specific proportions to gradually create the layers, and then carefully assembling them. She meticulously pieced together the ways in which the women’s navigation of life and love shaped their individual and collective futures. I also liked how the novel did not pay too much attention to Farouq because he was not the focus of the story. The women were front and center throughout, as they should be.
At a point, it felt as though I was watching a television show because once I get so engrossed in a particular character’s storyline, the novel switches to another character’s storyline. At first, I would pout and want to hurry back to the previous character’s storyline but then I would quickly get engrossed again in the next one’s storyline. This cycle continued until I was done. I think this novel is engaging and nuanced enough for an exceptional television adaptation. In Butter Honey Pig Bread, Francesca Ekwuyasi weaves a brilliant tale about motherhood, decisions, consequences, rifts, the connection between the spirit and the mind, and most
importantly family. It emphasizes the need to resolve past trauma in order to move forward. Francesca Ekwuyasi has definitely won me over as I thoroughly enjoyed this debut. I cannotwait to read her next work.
Boluwatife Alege is a Nigerian biomedical scientist and writer. Her areas of interest are music and women’s experiences. Her work is published in Isele Magazine, Document Women and The Moveee Magazine. She is currently pursuing a Master of Public Health at the University of Chester.
