The Middle Daughter

The story of seventeen-year-old Nani who discovers womanhood through hardship before finding her freedom and independence.



Udodi's death was the beginning of the raging storm but at that moment we thought that the worst had already happened, and that life would treat us with more kindness.



When Nani is only seventeen, she loses her beloved sister and father. Misunderstood by the rest of her family, she is beguiled by an itinerant preacher, a handsome self-proclaimed 'man of God' who seems to offer all the answers. But instead of building a better future with him, Nani is forced too soon into a challenging womanhood with an oppressive husband.



Will she find the courage to take charge of her own life and seek true happiness, and at what cost?



Absorbing and tender, Chika Unigwe's The Middle Daughter is a finely-drawn portrait of a young woman's resilience in the face of violence and grief" -- PAULA HAWKINS



"The Middle Daughter is an unflinching portrait of a family's grief and one daughter's climb out of despair. An absorbing, memorable read" -- AYOBAMI ADEBAYO



"The Middle Daughter is an emotionally charged exploration of the ways in which a woman may fall victim to conventions designed to ensnare her. Chika Unigwe is a writer of great conviction and superior insight . . . Nani's story drew me in from the start and pulled me under right up until the end" -- AMINATTA FORNA



"Marvellous and engrossing from beginning to end. Unigwe navigates points of view with the sureness and composure of a writer in her element as Nani's raw and insistent voice drives the narrative" -- SEFI ATTA



"Chika Unigwe's modern retelling of the myth of Hades and Persephone is pitch perfect - it is a meditation on the need we all share for belonging, and family, and love; a commentary on the journey we must all take in search of freedom" -- HELON HABILA



"I could not stop reading Chika Unigwe's enchanting novel, The Middle Daughter. Her tender exploration of family blessings and woes is magical!" -- UWEM AKPAN