Tomorrow I Become a Woman

Uju is a daughter her mother never wanted. When she meets Gozie in 1978, he seems like the perfect man – charismatic, Christian and Igbo – so she agrees to marry him in the hope of attaining her mother’s approval. Gozie reminds her of her beloved Uncle Ikenna, her mother’s brother who disappeared fighting in the Civil War that devastated Nigeria. But Uju has lingering feelings for Akin – a man her mother would never accept as his tribe fought on the other side of the war.

Tomorrow I Become a Woman explores a complex relationship between mother and daughter, a woman’s struggle to meet societal and cultural expectations within the confines of an abusive marriage, and a love story that spans decades and continents against a backdrop of political turmoil in a fast-changing world.

Uju is a woman trying to be modern in a country that wants her to be traditional. Inspired by the lives of real women – and with the theme of female friendship as a source of hope, laughter and empowerment throughout – this is a feminist novel that gently educates.

About the Author

Aiwanose spent a better part of her life wanting to become an economist, an accountant, then an entrepreneur before she discovered her love for writing. She has contributed to published non-fiction works and participated in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Purple Hibiscus Trust Writing Workshop. She was longlisted for the 2020 Commonwealth Writers Short Story Prize and holds a postgraduate degree from the University of Oxford. When she's not writing, she's cheering for Manchester United or watching dramas. Her debut novel Tomorrow I Become a Woman will be published in 2022.