By Esther Onyegbula

A new memoir by Elizabeth Nta has offered a gripping account of childhood trauma, abuse, faith and resilience, chronicling her journey from a life marked by loss and exploitation to academic success and self-discovery.

The book, which reads as both a personal testimony and a social commentary, traces Nta’s life from her early years of deprivation to her eventual graduation from university, becoming the first in her family to attain that milestone.

In the opening section, A Childhood Carved by Loss, the author reflects on growing up without her father and watching her mother struggle to raise the family amid poverty and betrayal by relatives. Following a life-altering accident involving her brother, Nta was sent to live with an aunt in a bid to ease her mother’s burden. There, she endured grueling farm work, verbal abuse and emotional neglect.

Despite the harsh conditions, she excelled academically, demonstrating what the memoir describes as an early determination to escape the limitations of her environment. One defining episode was her struggle to sit for the Common Entrance Examination after her aunt refused to pay the ₦20 registration fee. With the encouragement and support of her mother, she overcame multiple obstacles to secure a place for the exam, a moment the book highlights as a turning point in her belief in perseverance.

The second part, Borrowed Roofs, Broken Bodies, details her relocation to Ondo State to work as a house help for a cousin, in what was supposed to be a path to a better life. Instead, the experience exposed her to severe exploitation, physical hardship and emotional trauma. The memoir recounts incidents of humiliation, including confusion and shame surrounding her first menstruation, worsened by the cruelty of her cousin.

Nta also narrates traumatic experiences involving abuse by her cousin’s husband, episodes that shaped her survival instincts and left deep psychological scars. She describes adopting coping mechanisms such as hiding under the bed and avoiding confrontation, while clinging to faith as her only source of hope.

A brief return home during the Christmas season offered a glimpse of freedom, but that hope was threatened by malicious rumours intended to force her back into servitude, underscoring what the author describes as the complex and often damaging dynamics within extended family structures.

Her eventual journey to Lagos marked another major transition. Filled with hope and excitement, she arrived believing the city would offer freedom and opportunity. Initially welcomed into a new household, she soon found herself navigating complicated domestic arrangements, serving both her employer’s family and that of a military officer.

The memoir’s third section, Lagos – Dreams Drowning in Daylight, paints a stark picture of urban hardship. Nta recounts being drawn into the troubled and secretive life of the military officer’s wife, who relied on her for late-night errands and exposed her to disturbing situations that deepened her understanding of trauma and abuse.

Her living conditions in Lagos are described as overcrowded and unsanitary, particularly after moving in with her sister. The lack of basic amenities, privacy and stability tested her resilience, yet the author notes that these experiences further strengthened her resolve to seek a better future.

Education emerges as a central theme in The Fight for a Future. Nta details her repeated attempts to gain admission into secondary school and higher institutions, facing failed examinations, financial hardship and systemic barriers. Despite the setbacks, she persisted, eventually securing admission into a university.

In the final section, God, My Source, the author reflects on her evolving faith, which she credits as a sustaining force throughout her journey. The memoir traces moments of doubt and despair, alongside a growing reliance on God as she navigated abuse, rejection and academic struggles.

The book concludes with her graduation from university, a moment presented as the culmination of years of perseverance. As the first graduate in her family, Nta’s story, according to the review, stands as a testament to resilience, faith and the transformative power of education.

Beyond a personal memoir, the book sheds light on child labour, domestic abuse, poverty and the challenges faced by vulnerable young girls, offering what readers may find to be both a sobering and inspiring narrative of survival against the odds.