One hundred and seventy four pages later, after twelve un-numbered chapters I had finished reading Norah Spie’s book, “Parallel Lines”, without putting it down.
The book is interesting, funny, unabashedly entertaining, personal and very poignant. Her observant eye makes possible a startling candor. Written by a twenty-two year old, the book is a powerful early start for young-adult book author.
The book traces Norah's life from her upbringing in a single parent environment. Her early days were as eventful as any young African's, but had its own challenges. One thing is clear though -- family relationships strongly impact young girls’ self-esteem and achievement, for they internalise their parents’ beliefs and values regarding women’s ability to succeed. Yet they have their own independent struggles which often have to be balanced with parents' expectations. Norah says her biggest inspiration has been her mother.
Norah's six-month stint in Sweden was a mixture of joy and pain but a definite eye-opener and a broadener of horizons. She provides a close examination of her significant experiences breaking racial barriers and overcoming cross-cultural challenges.
She also describes her experiences in a male-dominated working environment. As a pretty young woman, many misconceptions would often interfere with her professional life. Norah struggles to achieve a balance between satisfying her intellectual needs and developing social and professional relationships, and the male-dominated environment has not always been supportive.
If she chose to be true to herself, to honour her drive for achievement and self-actualisation, she broke some unspoken rule and faced disconnection, taunts, and rejection from both male and female peers.
Norah gives an account of how she struggled to achieve a balance between her family’s needs, her boyfriend's, and her own needs. She often made decisions and choices under an ethic of caring, which became problematic in one or two instances. Characteristically, Norah treats such challenges with a deft and humorous touch, taking lightly the relationship problems that ensued and revealing how, with low cunning and high intelligence, she survived into adulthood.
In describing her relationships with men, Norah sustains the same quiet humour, sharing a quizzical bemusement at the ways of young African men and how materialism plays a key role in their lives.
Norah's international travels moulded her into an all-rounder -- having seen a lot, for her age, and having lived in many different parts of the world. She learned to live with unfamiliar people, learned to speak French, and to look after herself in France where individualism is the norm and where the support structure that she was accustomed to did not exist.
The book is an easy read and it gives a frank account, without making explicit judgements about societies or about people. The narrative is joyful, too. As a writer, she made a conscious decision to be honest about what she had seen and experienced.
The title of the book, 'Parallel Lines' refers to the lines in the road, the personal story lines; in this poignant and personal story, those lines never meet and they reveal heartache, humour, surprise, experience, pain and above all, the drive to endure and succeed.
The book ends when Norah arrives at London's King's Cross train station from Paris and she is on her way to Luton where a new life awaits her. She wonders whether she will find that transversal that helps her cross the 'parallel lines' that have dominated her life thus far.
A must read!
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