WELCOME TO THE ONLINE BOOK TOUR OF BEYOND THE TRIAL BY CHIGOZIE ANULI MBADUGHA

Oct 24, 2016by Miriam David14

Creative writing news welcomes you to the online book tour of Beyond The Trial by the talented Chigozie Anuli Mbadugha. This is the first of five (5) tour stops in her one week book tour. Attend the other blog tours for more insight into this life rewarding book. See the Tour schedule HERE.

We thoroughly enjoyed reading this collection of short stories. The stories evoked a mixture of emotions which is expected of most excellently written stories. We cannot wait to hear Dr Chigozie Mbadugha answer all our questions. If you have not read the book, here is a summary of the plot below for your benefit. Further down is an audio excerpt from Beyond The Trial. Chigozie Anuli Mbadugha is available to answer all your questions. You will  probably have questions for her after reading and listening to the excerpt. Write your questions in the comments section. Join in the discussion with the author. Share. Invite your friends. Enter the draw by asking questions and participating in the tour. Triple your chances of winning by ordering a copy of the book and participating in all the book tours.

Book Description

 Beyond the Trial illustrates a gradual mental shift that has already begun to take place, in terms of how women now view themselves and their blossoming sense of self-worth, at least. While the older generation of its women have felt that they have to endure so much to keep their men happy and their homes together, the younger, more educated women are having none of it. Mbadugha’s younger female protagonists do not give in to the hopelessness of their situations; they are refusing to be relegated, or to become bitter and resentful. They do not accept labels society would like to put on them, or how it makes them out as unfortunate, disadvantaged, downtrodden, and mere castaways simply because of their unfortunate circumstances of life, even when their troubles are not of their own making. They do not wallow in self-pity or cower from their problems or throw sighs at them.

Relax and enjoy the readings from Beyond The Trial by the author.

An excerpt from Shadows from the Past in Beyond the Trial

Jude, Justina and I returned from school tired and hungry on that fateful day. Mother had prepared my favourite food – vegetable yam garnished with locust beans. We had eaten cheerfully with our bare hands. My siblings ate from plates. I preferred to eat mine from Mother’s small mortar. I believed the food tasted better from there. We had just finished eating when Onyeasiri, the village talebearer, ran into our compound panting.

“Where is your mother? Where is she?” she asked.

“In the kitchen,” replied Jude, pointing towards the back of the house.

“I hope there is no problem,” I said.

She ignored my question and ran towards the kitchen. I got up and followed her. Mother was cleaning the portion of the kitchen that housed our stove and cooking utensils. It was an open cooking area shared with the occupants of the other three apartments. Onyeasiri ran to my mother and told her she had some news for her. Mother stopped all she was doing and waited for her to speak.

“Water! Water!” she demanded, “I have been running from near the Ogbaru health centre. Please give me water.”

I left her with my mother, went into the house and got her some water. She gulped it quickly.

“What is this news that you have been running to come and deliver to me?” asked Mama.

Onyeasiri looked around, as if to see if there were any new additions to her audience.  There were none as my siblings had not stirred from the front of the house where we had just finished our lunch.  Onyeasiri savoured being the one disseminating breaking news in our area. She looked at my mother and me.

“Nne Ada, I saw your husband being taken to Ogbaru health centre about twenty minutes ago. He did not look too well. They had to carry him in. That useless girl Clara was with him,” said Onyeasiri, finally.

“Which health centre did you say?” asked my mother, instantly looking very worried.

“Ogbaru,” replied Onyeasiri.

“Could he have been involved in an accident?” asked Mother.

“I don’t know,” Onyeasiri replied, “But I did not see any obvious wounds on his body.”

I had watched their interplay with curiosity and trepidation. My siblings Jude and Justina were probably still recovering from our heavy lunch and had not stirred from their seat in the front balcony. Well, this piece of news was definitely going to stir them from their comfort zone.

“Ada, let’s go to the health centre,” said Mother.

She ran into the house, put on her brassiere, and changed to a more befitting wrapper and blouse. She came out adjusting her wrapper, and I noticed the free end of her wrapper had a small bulge in it. Knowing my mother, that probably represented her entire life savings tied to her wrapper for safe keeping. Sometimes, I found her devotion to my father bewildering. While he was used to rationalizing and equivocating on every gift or act of kindness to members of his family, Mother gave of herself sacrificially, again and again.

Thank you for taking time off your busy schedule to chat with us. I have a few questiions I’d like to ask you.

  1. As a medical doctor, you probably see a lot of drama in the hospital. Do you draw inspiration from events encountered in your course of duty?
  2. In the second story, Rude Awakening, Chidi was so mean to his sister-in-law, I wanted to reach into the  the book to slap him. How did you create such a character? Ever encountered anyone like him?
  3. How do you set writing goals? Any rituals you’d like to share with us?

Now leave your questions in the comments section. Do not forget to join the tour tomorrow on lolaopatayo.com

About The Author

image005Chigozie Anuli Mbadugha wrote her first unpublished novel at the age of six and has been writing poems, scripts, short stories, and songs since then, mainly for leisure. One of her poems, “The New Yam Festival,” won second prize in a nationwide poetry competition in 1983. She was the recipient of the silver prize at the Kanagawa World Biennial Children’s art competition in Japan in 1987. She was educated at two Federal Government Colleges (Enugu and Ijanikin, Lagos) and at the University of Benin Medical School. She holds a Masters degree with distinction from University College London.

Her debut publication Beyond the Trial is an inspirational collection of short stories published in 2015. It was nominated for the 2015 Dan Poynter Global EBook Award. In 2015, Beyond the Trial was featured in the London Book Fair, Book Expo America, Beijing Book Fair, Frankfurt Book Fair and the Guadalajara Book Fair. It was also featured in the 2016 Nigeria International Book fair in Lagos.

Chigozie Anuli Mbadugha is constantly trying to maintain a balance between medical practice, family commitments and her passion for writing. She is grateful for the inspiration and support she gets from her husband, family and friends. She is undecided which gives her more pleasure – writing songs or words.

 

image003You can see the book trailer here.

Order your copy from KONGA and AMAZON. Not a fan of hard copies, get the e-book from AMAZON and KOBO

Also available for sale at:

Laterna Ventures is located at 12B/13 Oko Awo Street, Victoria Island, Lagos

Patabah bookstore is located at Shop B18, Adeniran Ogunsanya Mall, Surulere.

Bible Wonderland: Ojuelegba, Agege, Ipaja, Ketu branches

UNILAG bookshop: University of Lagos Akoka

Vog & Wod Book and Stationery Store is located at 25 Osolo Way, Ajao Estate Lagos

The Hub Media Store is located at The Palms Shopping Mall, Lekki. (1st Floor)

De prince Supermarket: No.7/9 Akerele street, Gbagada, Lagos

CLAM Bookshop: Clam close, Omole, Ikeja

THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING!

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