Season of Crimson Blossoms.
By Abubakar Adam Ibrahim.
Parresia Books, 347 pp.
Abubakar Adam Ibrahim’s season of crimson blossom is a
novel that portrayed the life of Hajiya Binta Zubairu. The author used the
third person omniscient point of view, the characterizations and the themes of
relationships, ageism, forced marriage and the custom of not showing affection
to the first born child.
The Omniscient point of view represents freedom - it
prevented the author from being limited to the inner life of one character. The
omniscient point of view worked for this novel because the author was able to
travel to the past and present at will. The choice of point of view helped to
link the relationship between Binta and Hassan, Binta and Yaro, Hassan and
Maimuna.
The omniscient point of view helped us to visit Kibiya,
Jos and Marraba. The setting of the book brought the characters to life, the
protagonist Hajiya Binta is not a type and she has lived through her share of
tragedies and pain.
The themes ageism,
relationships forced marriage, abandonment, and the customs lead to a greater theme
of life.
Ageism is
stereotyping and discriminating against individuals or groups on the basis of
their age.
The Love affair of Hajia Binta and Hassan was fleeting
but it had far reaching consequence. It helped us to see clearly that northern
Nigeria society will not readily accept the relationship between an older woman
and a younger man but thinks nothing about the relationship between an older
man and a younger woman like in the case of Hassan's parents.
The themes of forced marriage, bereavement , abandonment and custom of
not showing affection to your first child had an intense effect on the
characters like in the case of Yaro who could not stand the lack of affection
shown to him by his mother Hajiya Binta. She called his name only once in his
life term.
The abandonment of children by their mothers after the
loss of a spouse or divorce also has an adverse on the growth and development
of children.
The book is contemporary realistic fiction and even
though the author has some realistic fiction in The Whispering Trees, the
stories that were written with magical realism had caught the attention of
literary enthusiasts. The modern realistic fiction is also good but with the
northern Nigerian society it’s unrealistic to expect that people will be
favourable towards a younger man, older woman relationship.
