"You can't catch fish until you go to the water," says an old African proverb. "A husband- seeker should find one before her beauty fades like flower's," says another. Mindful of these, and dreadful of their society's abhorence of any woman whom no man ever marries, six girls from a remote village set out on a journey to the city in search of husbands. It is a story of riveting drama, suspense, irony and twists of fate- a tale, set in the distant past, whose troubling truth, to a large extent, is also reflective of our contemporary realities.
There are seven other exciting stories in this book. Each is markedly different although all are united by the twists of fate which play on their mixture of human, monstrous and animal characters.
this slim volume of stories is worth reading. It pokes fun at some of the foibles we see around us while reinforcing important moral values that cut across cultures.

 

CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Girls in Search of Husbands ....................................p. 3

Chapter 2: The Hyena and the Squirrel ....................................p. 21

Chapter 3: A Tale of Two Betrayals ..........................................p. 39

Chapter 4: The Monkey and the Fish ........................................p. 53

Chapter 5: The Spirit Child ......................................................p. 65

Chapter 6: The squirrel and the Bison .......................................p. 71

Chapter 7: The Three Snake Hunters ........................................p. 79

Chapter 8: Dan Agwai and the Monster .....................................p. 87