num_pages: 272
description: ‘Your ambition, Chira, don’t let it die. Don’t give up no matter the obstacles. I’ll be happy wherever I am to know that you made it.’ These are Chira’s father’s words to her from his hospital bed. Chira is the main character in THE FOURTH WORLD. She is an intelligent, hardworking, and soft-hearted young woman whose ambition is to rise above her deprived background by acquiring a good education. Her father’s sudden death truncates Chira’s education before she finishes secondary school and places on her young shoulders the heavy burden of having to look after her ailing mother who will no longer do anything for herself. Chira is dispossessed of the family land that could have funded her education, and her request for a loan from her best friend’s father is turned down.With her ambition temporarily tucked away, Chira finds a job. Her salary is meagre but she must somehow stretch it to support the household and pay for her mother’s medical treatment and inconsiderate demands. As Chira and her mother are about to be thrown out of their shanty for non-payment of rent, a possible saviour arrives in the shape of Maks, a wealthy but shadowy businessman. He covers the family debts and proposes marriage. Chira is torn between marrying this strange, possessive man and holding on to her dream – to continue her education and make something of herself, a pursuit she is sure this marriage will deny her.Chira’s eternal desire to be educated and self-reliant, her humiliating encounters with the wealthy people that cross her path, the disturbing traits she discovers in Maks, and his inexplicable behaviour the first time she visits him – all combine to make her seriously question the wisdom of marrying him. She finally makes a decision. Tragedy strikes again and a door opens. Will this door lead her to the fulfilment of her ambition or to more tragedies? About the Author Ifeoma Okoye is an award-winning author. Her first novel, Behind the Clouds (Longman, UK) won the prestigious Nigerian Festival of Arts and Culture Award and was selected by Spectrum Books as one of the best 25 Nigerian books written over the past 25 years. Her second novel, Men Without Ears (Longman, UK), won the Association of Nigerian Authors Best Fiction of the Year Award, and in 1999 her short story ‘Waiting for a Son’ won the African Regional Prize in the Commonwealth Short Story Competition. Her short stories have been published in The Heinemann Book of African Women’s Writing (Heinemann, 1995) and Opening Spaces: An Anthology of Contemporary African Women’s Writing (Heinemann, 1999). Her collection of short stories, The Trial and Other Stories, was published by African Heritage Press, New York. The Fourth World is her fourth novel. She has also written a number of children’s books, some of which have won awards and have been translated into several languages. Ifeoma Okoye attended the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria, and Aston University Birmingham, UK. She was a Senior Lecturer in English at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria. She lives in Enugu, Nigeria.
language: English
title: The Fourth World
publisher: Ifeoma Okoye