Despite the title, there is no joy to be found in this book, nor is there a happy ending to look forward to. The life of a woman so rarely follows the path of ease and tranquility, especially the life of a Nigerian woman like Nnu Ego. Born out of a passionate love affair between a village chief and his mistress, Nnu should have known only love and privilege in her life. Yet she has known only hardship.

Her life starts with great promise, as she is sent to a well-respected, handsome man to become a budding senior wife. However, she is quickly tossed aside when she cannot conceive, at which point she is sent to Lagos, the white man's city. There, she is to marry a less prominent, less attractive man with whom she cannot share her traditional ideas as he has adopted the white man's way. A proud son is born out of their first conjugal night, but it doesn't take long for despair to return when the young child dies in his sleep. Eventually other children will come but she will never have the happiness she so long expected from her position as primary wife.

Throughout the novel Nnu Ego continues to struggle to preserve the village traditions of what it means to be a wife, a daughter and a mother, against a Nigeria striving to modernize itself. The rules she once knew hold no power against the rising prominence of Christian influence and a country trading the tribal farm for railways and naval ships. She will continuously look for the compassion needed to embrace such a new life, despite immense poverty, while maintaining the respect for her almost otherworldly ways. We can only hope that at Nnu Ego's death her memory will finally be cherished, but even that, we realize, will never happen.

Emecheta's portrayal is far too poignant not to hit a few buttons. It is not a book for the mere traveler watching her figure; the subject is heavy and the feeling is a tad glum. But Emecheta manages to so deftly place the reader in her Nigeria that it is hard not to continue reading, even if we realize we'd rather not be there with Nnu Ego. Already becoming a classic of Nigerian literature, The Joys of Motherhood is destined to be a must-read for those who want a glimpse into a woman's role, as oppressed by the outside world as much as she is oppressed by her own family.