Avalanche of The Shackles

About the Book

Avalanche of the Shackles unravels the struggle of a strong female protagonist who instills the ethics of forgiveness, humility, philanthropy in a world fraught with social castigation, border lines and the politics of divide and rule. This novel is one woman’s courageous quest to uncover the murder of a teenage girl whose heart was gored out to replace the ailing heart of a prominent man’s son.

The novel brings to life the oral tradition embedded in African-American literature, its rich doctrines of historical storytelling as seen by Missy’s household. Missy is the protagonist who changed her name to escape her exiled past because of her status in the community. She returns back to the land that once ostracized her to embark in full scale production, but finds herself and all her brood enslaved by the prominent man in her community. A twist of fate, however, ushers her surprises. She faces the after-effects of the Ngene Iji war while she endures the challenges of raising other people’s children.

She makes astonishing achievements that endear her to the entire community where she runs an orphanage and builds a home for the mentally ill. The Avalanche is the sequel to the biographical and historical sketch of the caste system that was brushed on in The Shackles of Oruku Threats. The Shackles dabbled in men’s leading role in the politics of caste and class.

About the Author

"Lynda Ukemenam’s literary credits include essays for the New York Amsterdam Newspaper in Harlem, New York, the essay African Women and Development for World Wise International Newspaper in New Hampshire. She wrote editorials and the leisure column for the African News Weekly based in Asheville, North Carolina and African Profiles International Magazine in New York. Her columns appeared in the Nigeria Abroad Newspaper in New Jersey and in the Nigerian News Digest in Asheville, North Carolina. She is an independent writer currently working on a sequel to The Shackles of Oruku Threats. Her other books include Taking A Bath? - A non-fiction text on circumcision and female genital mutilation. Her poems entitled; The Third World, Grasshoppers Invade New Territory, Somalia was published in the Maryland Review - The University of Maryland Press. Her alma mater was The College of Journalism, Fleet Street, London England. She has given lectures on Female Genital Mutilation at NYU at New York and on Male Order Brides – Trafficking in Child Marriages and Unionization of Female Migrant Workers at the State University of New York Stonybrook, NY and has lectured to several groups on similar topics. She has recently given a lecture on Crimes Against Women to the Sisters in Crime organization of Phoenix, AZ."