Growing Yams In London By Cameron Duodu

By Cameron Duodu
Tuesday, 12 May 2009
Growing Yams In London is the title of the first novel by a young Ghanaian writer, Sophia Acheampong, whose first book was so well received that she has now gone on to produce a second novel, Ipods in Accra.

Both books are published in London by Piccadilly Press and can be ordered online from www. Amazon.co.uk.

These novels provide a mirror into the complicated lives of young girls born to Ghanaian parents in London.

They speak like British girls, and go out with British girls (and boys!) but come home to live with parents brought up in Ghana, some of whom try to teach their children the good things about the way of life they brought from Ghana.

The girls do not deliberately look down on the 'strange' lifestyle of their parents.

They are even willing to accept,with open mind, the 'guidance' which their parents try to provide to the course of their lives. But unless the parents are very enlightened, they risk straying into dangerous territory -- trying to exert too much 'control' — an enterprise which can be disastrously self-defeating.

For these girls walk through a minefield: school, with its demands for discipline, its imposition of many irrelevant subjects, and emotional and psychological 'warfare' with friends, semi-friends and outright enemies.

What do these multitudes say about one in the numerous texts they send on their mobile phones to one another?

Do trusted friends approve of one's choices in the matter of dress, manner, hairdo or makeup? What about boys? Dare one risk gossip by telling a 'friend' how one feels about a boy whom the friend may also secretly fancy?

Outside school, how does one cope withwhat one considers as 'conspiracies' against one by other girls — and boys? How does one hide things successfully from one's parents without feeling like betraying them?

The mind of a young girl is filled with a million anxieties about such issues. Meanwhile, a pair of uncomprehending parents may only be interested in whether their 'little girl' who is actually fast becoming a woman, is respecting their wishes. And also studying hard. Is there any greater invitation to rebellion?

The heroine of Growing Yams in London, Makeeda, is trying to cope with all these feelings when she is thrown into additional emotional turmoil by a dispute with her teacher on whether she should do a school project on the subject chosen by the teacher, or what she wants to do -- research a topic in the history and culture of Ghana that is great interest to her because of what she has heard about Asante and aloso because of her femininity, but which, typically, means nothing to her British teacher.

I cannot disclose any more of the story-line, but I can tell you this: Sophia Acheampong writes in such a breezy style that it's as if she were texting the entire story to one of her close friends.

The book is thus easy to read and rich in its revelations about the preoccupations of creatures who, to some of the older generation, might as well have come from a different planet.

I am eagerly waiting to read Ipods in Accra, which is a sequel to Growing Yams in London. But I've told you enough about what I think.So, ok -- what do Sophia Acheampong's own contemporaries (the amazingly mature 12-plus readership) say about it themselves? One wrote (in textese, of course!): “ i luvd dis book..im juz waitin for more from the writer.. i felt interested becos it reminded me of my life. im not really a reader but i was so interested with this book i read it night and day until i finished it in such a short time.”

Another reviewer remarked: “Makeeda… has great friends and a fun life, even if her parents are a bit strict and she's sometimes jealous of her cousin Tanisha. But when she meets and falls for … DJ Nelson, and Tanisha encourages her not to tell her parents, things begin to change for Makeeda. She starts to see Nelson behind her parents' back…

“Meanwhile she's also heading for trouble at school, ignoring her teacher's advice…. But possibly worst of all, it looks like Makeeda's friendship with Bharti may never be the same again. Makeeda's in for a tough time...

“I found this book a complete delight from start to finish. Makeeda is a sweet, lovable character (though she does make mistakes), and her actions were always completely believable. When she starts to get in touch with her roots, it provides lots of laughs as well as being fascinating.

“I loved her good friends, too, especially Bharti. Her little sister was priceless, and her not-so-good friends (Laura and Afua) were three-dimensional and in some ways not that bad, although you could completely see Makeeda's point of view about them.

The best thing about this book for me was the description of everyday life and love in Northwest London. A brilliantly entertaining read.”

I thought the insight shown by the writer of this last review was particularly exquisite:

“Far from being an agricultural manual, Growing Yams in London follows the coming of age, trials and triumphs of a young Londoner of Ghanaian heritage. Makeeda tries to manage family, friends, studies and boyfriend with varying degrees of success. From the moment she meets the very fit DJ Nelson, Makeeda knows that her family will be far from approving. She can't seriously be expected to wait until she's 18 to have a boyfriend! Can she?

“Sophia Acheampong deals delicately with important issues such as first kisses, best friends and the importance of knowing about your culture. Schoolwork is always lurking in the background and Makeeda tests deadlines to the limit. By bending the rules to the very point of breaking them and beyond, she studies one of the heroines of Ghana, [Yaa Asantewaa] learning about life and herself on the way.

“This book will appeal to those who long for lip-gloss, rock solid best friends to text at all times and a boyfriend. They will get a real feel of what life's like for those whose parents come from a different culture and most importantly, gain some important tips about — growing yams in London.”

Who is this Sophia Acheampong whose first novel has so enthralled the readership for which it was meant, but also managed to instruct and enchant those of us who, on reading the book, feel as if we've secretly raided the inbox of a favourite daughter, or even grand-daughter?

She says of herself: “I'm in my twenties. I studied English at Brunel University, where I eventually completed an MA course a few years ago. Growing Yams in London first formed part of my MA dissertation.

I was born and raised in England, but my parents were born and raised in Ghana. I've been lucky enough to have parents who fully appreciated that cultural clashes would occur whilst I was growing up. I am aware of the gaps in my knowledge of Ghanaian culture and history and hope to spend the rest of my life filling those gaps. As I am fortunate enough to have access to many relatives who are willing to pass on their knowledge, I too would like to be able to do the same.”

Finally, how did she manage to get published? In an interview, she told the magazine, Reconnect Africa, that the biggest obstacle that faced her, as she tried to get her book published, was “not having any knowledge of the publishing industry”.

It meant that she “couldn't appreciate the time-scale involved.” She had to rewrite her manuscript several times before the publishers accepted it.

“I thought the process would be a lot quicker. In reality, it took two years for them to make an offer, then another year for the book to be published", said Sophia. "Even in that final year, I was still writing and correcting a few months before Growing Yams in London was released.

“I stayed focused because I had support from fabulous friends and family, who encouraged me, when it got difficult, by telling me to get on with it! I have great parents who supported me throughout this process— without them, I doubt I would have had the courage to pursue this dream.”

Congratulations to all of them. These are the unsong heroes and heroines whose belief in Ghana makes our country, against great odds, known to the world as a great country.