Where the Children Take Us by Zain E. Asher–Book Review

This is memoir is a tribute to the mother of the author, a Nigerian immigrant who against great odds raised four highly successful children in London following the tragic death of her husband in a car accident in 1988. Obiajulu survived genocide during the Civil War in Nigeria. Married as a teenager, she and her husband Arinze came to England to advance their education. They hoped to eventually establish a school in their home village. She trained as a pharmacist, and he entered medical school. When Arinze suddenly died, Obiajulu was left pregnant, with three young children, and a small business (her pharmacy} to run.

Through discipline and perseverance, she trained her children to become first readers, then scholars, and to pursue their dreams with tenacity. Almost thirty years later, one son is an actor who has been an academy award nominee; the other is a successful entrepreneur. Zain is a global news anchor, and her younger sister is a doctor. Together the children banded together to found Brightland, a school that provides scholarships to children fleeing from violence in northern Nigeria, where Christians are still being persecuted.

This book takes you from a small village in a war-torn country to Buckingham Palace (where one of the children receives the Order of the British Empire). It makes for memorable reading.

VERDICT: 5 STARS.

For more reviews of memoirs written by Christians see:

Fish Out of Water by Eric Metaxas–Book Review

Jesus, My Father, the CIA and Me by Ian Morgan Cron–Book Review

this beautiful truth by Sarah Clarkson–Book Review

mme