Jagua starts off this book as a brash, hedonistic woman, getting older but still irresistible to every man who sees her. She's dealing with her age and painfully aware of it, fearing what will happen to her when she loses the power she holds over men. Thus far, it has been her way of getting what she wants in the world, and it has got her to where she is. She doesn't want to fade away and be like all the other women she sees. She's not very likeable at the start of this book - at all. In fact, even though she is the titular character, I thought the book's focus would be her much younger lover, Freddie. She was so selfish and childish, how could this whole book be focused on her? Then the story gets going. Jagua is betrayed and let down time and time again. She doesn't have any allies or friends or family. She moved to Lagos from a small village, as a "provincial" and was swallowed up by it. She climbs up, then slides down the social ladder, going from partying with the elite - young successful businessmen and wealthy English immigrants to petty thieves and murderers. But throughout the story she slowly reveals herself. We start to learn about her background, her upbringing which she remembers fondly - her reminiscing really shows a sweet side to her. She shows her mercy and kindness and selfishness throughout the book slowly, and brings the reader round in a way which they might not notice until they think back to the start.
Don't be fooled into thinking this is a love story. Love plays a part - Jagua is getting older and she wants a family and a husband, but this isn't a romance book. It's a character study, it's a long look at the hedonistic lifestyle. It's a long look at an emerging city, and desperate people trying to find their place in it. It feels as if the focus of Cyprian was to tell the story of Lagos rather than Jagua - she is just the brush he used to paint the picture.
This is a great book. It's from a vastly different culture than where I am from, but it didn't matter at all. The story shines through, the aspects to the characters is hugely relate-able and the scruples and situations are worldwide. It's really a story of greed, corruption, jealously and love, and these things aren't specific to 1960's Lagos. As well as these universal themes, the thing that makes this book cross the cultural borders is the sheer atmosphere of it. I don't mean cliched descriptions of an emerging city - Lagos is a character of it's own. It's a force in this story - it's magnetic. Jagua is reluctant to leave the city for anything, and when she does, and she finds fame and fortune elsewhere, she soon finds herself back there, even when there is nothing waiting for her. I was wishing she would stop and settle down here or there, with this guy or that one, but she always found some reason or excuse to get back to Lagos, and in particular get back to the Tropicana night club, where she would find rich men in her working days. This book has been compared to Dickens because the city is such a central role in it.
This a great book. Jagwa is a great character, and it is easy to race through this little insight into her life.
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