Everything Good Will Come is a novel about Enitan, a child of Nigeria, a child of privilege, a child who becomes a young woman, who through the process of fulfilling one dream, the dream of becoming a mother also fulfills another dream, one that had existed, unspoken, but constantly present in her inner unrest, the dream of becoming not just a woman, but a person who decides for herself, not just accepting the decisions others make for her, a citizen.

Much of the beginnings of the book are rooted in Enitan's childhood, in her friendship with Sheri, and in the ways she is both sheltered and privileged. In some ways the book seems like two novels, the novel of the young Enitan and Sheri, which occupies the first two sections of the novel, and a second novel about Enitan's road to self-actualization. In truth the first part is just the necessary underlayment for the second, but the reader may be surprised by the shift, and it does in fact take some time for the structure to play out, and the interleaving of thoughts, memories, stories, to coalesce.

I personally found the last portion of the novel to be the strongest but I can admit that it took some time and patience for me to grow into the rhythm of the narrative. Enitan is not always likable, but he is human, and thoughtful, and kind. She is also argumentative, and she struggles with her own demons, her thoughts often sabotaging her own happiness.

Her father always told her that people have choices. He didn't say that those choices were equal, in his world-view they were not. But Enitan also realizes that choice is a "condition of the mind" and that most of the time "I was as conscious of making choices as I was of breathing." As are most of us.

Atta takes care to show us how Enitan's thoughts and actions develop and evolve, often in small steps, often repeating and circling back upon themselves. How she struggles with her own internal dialogue about separating the personal from the political, the way that life is compartmentalized in her milieu, and her gradual realization that she cannot separate the two, that the personal and the political are one and the same.

There are flaws in the narrative, spaces where the prose shimmers with light, and other places where this reader stumbles. I can see how readers may become lost in the weeds, but through it all, I do think Sefi Atta achieves something marvelous here, and the book is well worth reading.

Favorite passage:
"When people speak of turning points in their lives it makes me wonder. I can't think of one moment that me me an advocate for woman prisoners in my country. Before this, I had opportunities to take action, only to end up behaving in ways I was accustomed; courting the same old frustrations because I was sure of what I would feel: wronged, helpless, stuck in a day when I was fourteen years old. Here it is: changes came after I made them, each one small. I walked up a stair. Easy. I took off a head wrap. Very Easy. I packed a suitcase, carried it downstairs, put it in my car. When situations became trickier my tasks became smaller. My husband asked why I was leaving him. "I have to," I replied. three words; I could say them. "What kind of woman are you?" Not a word. "Wouldn't you have tried to stop me too?" he asked. Probably, but he wouldn't have had to leave me to do what he wanted. ( )

I don't really know what to make of Enitan. Probably the timing of the Military Regime. I can't say I understand her thoughts or her argument.
I liked the beginning, of the novel before it became an activist journey. All is well that ends well. ( )

> Le meilleur reste à venir, par Sefi Atta. — A travers le récit d'une amitié entre deux femmes Sefi Atta brosse le portrait du Nigéria, pays qui, à peine sorti de la guerre du Biafra, sera la proie de multiples désordres.
Chez nous, les femmes sont encensées lorsqu'elles renoncent à leur droit de protester." Ces mots amers de la narratrice pourraient servir d'exergue à ce premier roman couronné en 2006 par le prix Wole-Soyinka. A travers le récit d'une amitié entre deux femmes dont "le meilleur reste à venir", Sefi Atta - une Nigériane née à Lagos en 1964 - brosse le portrait d'un pays qui, à peine sorti de la guerre du Biafra, sera la proie de multiples désordres, à la fois politiques et spirituels. Ces deux femmes, Enitan la chrétienne et Sheri la musulmane, nous les suivrons de leur adolescence à leur vie d'adulte, au mitan des années 1990, une trajectoire jonchée d'embûches parce que leur quotidien se déploie sur fond de viols et de répression policière, de coups d'Etat et de corruption, dans un monde affreusement patriarcal et machiste. A ce monde-là Sefi Atta oppose une faconde gorgée d'insolence, dans un roman où gronde la rébellion féministe. Et où l'on découvre toutes les blessures de l'Afrique, mais, aussi, sa magie flamboyante.
—L'Express

Levensverhalen van twee heel verschillende jonge Afrikaanse vrouwen die leven in Nigeria van 1971 tot 1995.
De auteur, afkomstig uit Lagos, woont in Mississippi en publiceerde eerder korte verhalen. Voor deze debuutroman kreeg ze in 2006 de Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa. Het verhaal speelt in Nigeria in 1971, als de naweeën van de oorlog in Biafra het land teisteren en het militaire regime een schrikbewind voert. Enitan groeit op bij een afwezige vader en een moeder die streng religieus is geworden na de dood van Enitans broertje. Ze sluit vriendschap met haar islamitsche buurmeisje Sheri, haar eerste daad van verzet. De twee vriendinnen staan anders in het leven, maar proberen beiden hun weg te vinden in de patriarchale structuren. Enitan zal als advocate uiteindelijk kiezen voor verzet. Sheri zoekt wegen om haar slag te slaan uit alle opportuniteiten.

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