The Girl Who Left the Village (An African Woman's Journey Book 1) by Eileen Omosa

6/24/2018

Multi-volume, multi-genre author, Eileen Omosa introduces us to the first volume of her new sweet romance series, “An African Woman’s Journey”, “Ignited by Education”:
She’s the most educated girl in the village, but her parents are worried she read the wrong books. Will they ever find a common understanding?
By sheer luck, Sophia Mariko has completed university education through grants for students from poor families. She’s focused on building her career and to pay fees for her siblings when her father summons her to the village to get married.
Sophia could resist and stay in the city, but her job is insecure. Richie floods her work desk with red roses and proposes to marry her. She turns down his overtures but becomes desperate on learning he’s the son of her employer.
Can Sophia shun marriage, yet her upbringing prepared her for the role of a wife and mother? Or will she abandon her job and drop back into the poverty she has worked so hard to overcome?

I enjoyed this sweet romance. To be honest, I had to look up what this genre included; I admit romance is not my first choice for reading pleasure. The truth is, this story is a lot of fun. Sophia is a woman with a plan and she is determined to complete her plan, I admire her fortitude.
There are many elements that are necessary to bring a story to life, Eileen weaves this tapestry quite well. The plot and sub-plots were interesting, scene setting was quite good, and the dialog was downright funny at times! I laughed out loud more than once! I savored the local flavor of Africa Eileen wove into the story, she shared what a lot of the Kiswahili language terms meant. Kiswahili is spoken by nearly 100 million people in Africa. Learning about food and cultural customs enhances a story for me a great deal. The action was played out quite well also, without being too exhaustive and bogging the story down.
All things considered; this story gave me several hours of reading pleasure. I award 5 stars to “The Girl Who Left the Village”!
I am happy to share that volume two of the series is available at this time: “The Secret He Never Told Her”.

You can buy this book:
https://www.amazon.com/girl-never-left-village
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Girl-Village-African-Womans-Journey-ebook
You can follow Eileen Omosa:
https://twitter.com/iGrowideas
https://www.eileenomosa.com
https://www.facebook.com/EileenOmosaAuthor

Tags: multicultural, hope, contemporary women’s fiction, sweet romance, international business, college, international travel, Italy, Kenya

Copyright © 2018 Mark L. Schultz except for the author’s introduction

23 Comments

Eileen Omosa link

6/25/2018 08:30:06 pm

Thank you Mark for the great review, it helps bring the book to life.
I had not thought much about the Swahili language, until you mentioned the 100 million users of the language. Now I am thinking, what if the book is translated into Kiswahili?

Mark

6/26/2018 07:25:25 am

You are very welcome, Eileen. I enjoyed your book quite a bit. That might be a good idea, translating your book. How many African countries have English as a practical or official language?
You have written a number of other books. Could you tell us a little bit about those books?
I have noticed that you tweet about food a lot. I know many countries have issues with food security for some of their citizens. What is your involvement with that issue?

Eileen link

6/26/2018 10:25:42 am

I will divide your question into three sections- language, books and food security.

I did a quick online search and established that between 22 and 25 Africa countries (out of a total of 54+) use English for official purposes.

6/26/2018 11:28:38 am

My first publications were in the 1980s, mainly articles in local magazines. Later, in university, I published in an Anthology– Poems from Kenya, edited by my literature Professor.

In 2016 I returned to the world of writing. I write books with a message of hope in an urbanizing world. What are individuals doing to adapt? I publish in the following series: Africa’s Billionaire Heirs, Grandma Stories, and, An Immigrant's Guide.

Africa’s Billionaire Heirs Series
Novels with stories of change; where education, culture, ambition, and love intertwine. The objective of the books is to give hope to girls and women in Africa. The main characters are young adults from the opposite ends of the social strata. They fall in love. BUT, they have to overcome the burdens associated with their riches and poverty to achieve the happily ever after? I have published book 1 & 2 – The Choices She Must Make and Outside the Family Box

Grandma Stories
Books centered around African grandmothers communicating with grandchildren on the then and now of food. The children are entertained as they learn on change, food choices being made, access and balanced diets for their wellbeing.

An Immigrant's Guide
All about the modern world of immigrants. The push and pull factors, and experiences after individuals and families leave the Place called Home.

6/26/2018 12:34:07 pm

You have been writing for a long time, Eileen. I can see you have a heart to help others, I love that.
The Grandma stories sound interesting to me, I am a grandfather now and enjoy talking with my grand kids. The immigrants guide attracts my attention also. I have traveled in Europe several times, but have never been an immigrant. The perspective would be quite different.
Do you think your writing has changed much from your earliest works?

6/26/2018 04:54:58 pm

On one hand I can say my writing has changed, on the other, it has not.
At the beginning of my writing career, my poems and articles for magazines and newspapers focused on events in my locality and later national level. Later, as a development worker, the focus was on development issues - supporting natural resources dependent households to earn a land-based livelihood in a sustainable way. Today the focus is on change and adaption as relates to food choices and overall family relations.
I still write on issues related/affecting society.

6/26/2018 03:27:10 pm

My involvement in food security goes back to my younger days, in relation to the changes I have witnessed over the years.

To start with, I like food, healthy food - food from crops grown in a sustainable way, nutritious, affordable and tasty. Whenever I cannot access the food I desire (in the market), I grow it – last month I planted a variety of vegetables in my city.

My interest in food security has intensified each time I have relocated – and I have done my life’s share of packing and unpacking. Born and raised in rural Kenya, education took me to boarding schools, then to university in a city. That was when I started to notice a chance in food. In boarding school, taste was the issue, while in the city I identified diversity, access and affordability as issues that determined people’s food choices. I saw several types of fruits being sold – previously free in my home area.

After university I spent more than a decade working in the field of natural resources management. My focus was on land tenure, conflict management and food security. Through interactions with land dependent households, I was able to make a clear connection between people’s land rights, access and food and nutritional security.

Presently I am an immigrant by choice. I continued my interest on food security. I study diversity and food choices of African immigrants in cities. Yes, it is a critical issue, one of the causal factors in the widespread “Immigrant Effect.” What factors influence the food choices we make, with what results? The theme of change and adaptation in food, matches the focus of my books – how individuals and groups are adapting to change as urbanization increases (see my response above on books I write).

6/26/2018 04:26:42 pm

Very serious issues, especially for someone who has immigrated to an area they are unfamiliar with. If they were unable to connect with fellow immigrants, then the food issue could be a steep learning curve.
Food was a relevant issue in your book, you wove into the story foods that were native to Sophia and her family, I found it quite interesting.
The resourcefulness of Sophia and her sister was a significant part of the story as well.
Were Sophia, her family or any of the others in "Choices" modeled after family, friends, or acquaintances? Would they have recognized themselves in your book? Why or why not?
What is your style of writing? Do you need strict silence and privacy or do you prefer a community or public setting?

6/26/2018 05:09:28 pm

Thanks for the question on immigrant access to familiar food. The first week of our arrival in Canada, our host took us to a church denomination different from ours. Their explanation was for us to meet with immigrants from different parts of Africa. It worked, we were given information/shown stores with multicultural food items. For immigrants who can afford, once you can access familiar food at a new locality, the place becomes home.

Eileen

6/26/2018 05:42:36 pm

Food brings people together. Even in the modern world/cities where family members study and work odd times, they tend to have a meal that brings them together - breakfast, dinner or weekend meals. In my book, The Choices She Must Make, Sophia and her sister are equally busy from morning to evening, but they eat supper together and that's when they have time to share experiences during the day. The same happens in their rural home, the family discuss diverse issues around a meal.
As an immigrant, I still struggle with when to offer food to my visitors. Though nowadays I inform a friend/visitor that they will eat something when they visit.
Growing up in Kenya, we served something to a visitor, even just drinking water. So it is always a surprise here when I invite an impromptu visitor to join us at table and they wonder, "did you count me?" Am like, we never cook just enough, there's always extra food for a visitor.
On the issue of my stories and real people, I doubt if any one person I know would identify with the characters in my books. It is a story which brings together thousands of people I have encountered in my life - in rural and urban areas. My career as a development worker allowed me access to different people/localities. So, whenever I place a book character in a poor urban neighbourhood, I have visited those places - hopped across streams in Kibera, been to markets in Kawangware, used public transport including in some parts of Asia (India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam, Thailand). When I place a character in a millionaire/billionaire neighbourhood or office tower, I have been to those places. My writing involves the fusion of reality and imagination to create something new.
If a person tried very hard, they might identify themselves with my character at one scene in the story, rarely would anyone fit in for example Sophia from her rural home to the city.

6/26/2018 06:13:53 pm

I am an introvert, ISTJ. I work as a research consultant (qualitative), and write when I am not at my work desk.
Reflecting on your question, I can say I have evolved in how I write. When my children were younger, I was able to write in the same room where they watched TV, occasionally they would ask me what I thought of Tom chasing Jerry. These days I am more productive from a quiet place, my office. Sometimes I work from a library but end up hearing conversations - headphone tend to box-in my brain, so I avoid them.

6/26/2018 06:23:49 pm

It is probably a good thing that no one would recognize themselves in your book. That really gives you complete control.
One of the things in "Choices" that was easy for me to identify with was the passenger vans that Sophia used for transportation. While living in San Francisco as a young adult, I rode buses a lot. In one part of the town, there was an alternate form of travel, the jitney. It was a highly decorated passenger van that traveled the length of one street and back in the Mission district. It was faster than the bus.

6/26/2018 06:35:41 pm

Tomorrow, I will be out of town and probably out of internet range. So I have a number of questions to put before you and you can take your time answering them. Feel free to start a new thread if you wish for every other question or every question.
When writing, is it in short bursts or for hours at a time?
What time of day do you get your best ideas?
So, do you ever struggle with writer's block, how does it affect you and how do you get around it?
Is there anything you consider to be a lucky charm for writing, what is it? Conversely, is there a kryptonite that saps your writing super-power?
Do you have any writer friends that have been particularly helpful?
What is the best and worst piece of advice you have received from another author?

6/27/2018 10:28:33 am

Thank you for the questions. I will provide responses one question at a time, I will indicate each question at the top of my response.

"When writing, is it in short bursts or for hours at a time?
What time of day do you get your best ideas? - Mark

After a long time of observing my productivity in relation to time of day, I can say I am a morning person. I get out of bed with a purpose, I know what I will start working on soon. As the hours of a day count, my brain slows down. I attribute the slowing down to the focus I put in when performing a task - I give it all.
I get new ideas for a book/chapter/character when away from my computer or books - while doing physical exercise, cooking, cleaning, listening to podcasts. I always have a pen and paper nearby or use my phone to document the new ideas.

I write for as long as the ideas flow on a given day. There are days when I type up to five thousand words, because they keep flowing. Whenever I start writing and catch myself reflecting too much on what and how to write, I stop and work on a different task from my in-tray.

6/27/2018 04:27:30 pm

"So, do you ever struggle with writer's block, how does it affect you and how do you get around it?
Is there anything you consider to be a lucky charm for writing, what is it? Conversely, is there a kryptonite that saps your writing super-power?" - Mark

This is how I identify my writers block. The moment I start to check the flow of language and use of words in a sentence, tells me it is time to stop writing. In a few cases I have stopped writing a book and started a new one - currently I have two half-written books and a note book with ideas for the next book.
Whenever the flow of a story eludes me completely, I leave it for some time and work on administrative tasks - which I always have in plenty. Other times I turn to my bookshelf or kindle and read a book, or listen to a podcast while I clean dishes and prepare food. On such a day, I make sure to eat a balanced meal and get enough sleep. The next day I will be ready to write.

As of now I do not have a lucky charm, except for the Kikoy I wrap around my shoulders in place of a sweater. No particular photo to stare at since I work from different places.
I have not discovered what causes me to slow down in writing, once I do I will churn out twelve books per year.

6/28/2018 09:53:51 am

That is great self-observing! You know what the signal is and you have a great plan for dealing with it. I love that you have multiple projects, I have heard that concept before and it sounds really good to me.
I love your ambition of 12 books a year.

6/27/2018 07:09:46 am

"One of the things in "Choices" that was easy for me to identify with was the passenger vans that Sophia used for transportation. While living in San Francisco as a young adult, I rode buses a lot. In one part of the town, there was an alternate form of travel, the jitney. It was a highly decorated passenger van that traveled the length of one street and back in the Mission district. It was faster than the bus." - Mark

Thanks for sharing your experience using public transport. Whenever I am in Nairobi my family questions when I use a matatu. For me it is a unique experience - the vibrant colours, names from global events, diverse music, quote stickers, prayer stickers. Then the conversations among some passengers.
The story is in my head, thawing.

Will be interesting for readers to share their experiences from riding public transport.

6/28/2018 09:50:26 am

Do you have any writer friends that have been particularly helpful?

What is the best and worst piece of advice you have received from another author?" - Mark

I came back to the writing world in 2016 and realized very quickly that the writers' sphere, just like the larger business world thrives on partnerships and friendships. I have since widened my social and professional networks to include writers. I rely on my local friendships as the starting point whenever I need input/advice on issues related to writing and publishing - bounce ideas on them, ask where to source writer professional services, share information on upcoming events and more. I do the same in return.
I have online friends in the different social media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn). These are people who share information (free and sold) that helps me grow as a writer.

Worst and best piece of advice?
Hard to make a list. The worst comment I have heard is, "You are a professional with a PhD, why write books instead of publishing in journals?
The best words I have heard, "I like your books, your area of focus (which is urbanization, change and adaptation) I will read all your books."

I have turned both pieces of advice to my benefit. Whenever someone tries to discourage me, my inner voice says, "do not answer them, work harder, prove them wrong." Positive words of course make me feel proud, so I have to worker harder, not forget what it takes to write and publish a book. All depends on how we view criticism or praise and what we do with the words.

6/28/2018 10:10:26 am

I have come to believe very firmly in networking, it's one of the things I like about Twitter. You have done well in working and leveraging networking, but as you said, it's a two-way street. Giving to others is very important. That is one of my cardinal rules on Twitter.
I love your attitude to praise and criticism, utilize both to grow. Take the good and discard the rest.
New questions:
Do you think it important or unnecessary for a person to personally experience suffering to be able to write effectively?
Have you ever read a book that changed the way you look at writing? What was the book?

Eileen Omosa

6/28/2018 03:00:54 pm

Thanks for the question on suffering in order to write well. Up to two years ago, when the writing bug revisited me after many years of being dormant, I was convinced that writers are born not made. As I read many types of writing resources, I encountered stories on what some writers went through before they wrote their first book. Some of their stories are convincing because of the aspect of, "necessity being the mother of innovation."
Should we call it suffering if a promising idea keeps knocking on one's door, to be written?

For now, I will name "On Writing Well by William Zinsser" as one of the books that changed the way I view writing. English being my third written language and 5+ of my spoken languages, I always read resources on how to perfect my art of writing. I have picked innovative ideas on audience, style, words and simplicity.
In the last three or so years I have read many books (how-to and genre specific). Listened to podcasts on writing from Joanna-thecreativepenn, Writers Experiment, KM Weiland on HelpingWritersBecomeAuthors, to name a few weekly ones. I also read blog posts and watch YouTube videos.

It is hard to pinpoint one or two particular sources of my learning.

6/28/2018 03:43:10 pm

I am not sure I would call an internal impetus or driving motivation suffering, but since I am not walking in those shoes, I will not push it. ;-) I did leave it wide open, by not specifying any particular kind of suffering.
Thank you for sharing all of those resources, I follow some of them on Twitter. Zinsser's book sounds interesting. I appreciate your dedication to the craft of writing.
What is the most important thing you learned from publishing your first book? What from this book?
What do you think are the biggest pitfalls for beginning writers?

6/29/2018 04:37:29 pm

My first independently published book in 2016 was, “Grandma Arrives in the City: and our new baby is clean-shaven.” The book reveals a cultural practice by paternal grandmothers to welcome a newborn grandchild into the family. While in the city, Grandma narrates stories to her other grandchildren on the cultivation, preparation and nutritional value of indigenous vegetables.
Publishing the e-book taught me what independent (indie) publishing is about – DIY. I taught myself by reading how-to resources watching videos. I learned how to package a finished product for KDP. Seeing my book come alive online motivated me to post another short story and start writing my first novel, The Choices She Must Make. More learning occurred here:
1. Why write under a genre?
2. The strength in numbers – writer/author networks, readers and mailing lists.
3. Diversification by writers to include podcasts, audio, training courses, workshops – to sell for more $$.
4. Empowerment which comes with the use of professionals in the publishing journey. Unlike before, I now tell people I write books. This was after my book was edited and proofread, cover designed by professionals.

In summary, I have learned that being an indie author means that a writer takes up more publishing tasks. This would be one of the pitfalls for a beginner or new writer. One might see the millions of books on on-line retailers and assume they too can write and add their book there. The book needs to not only go through the many stages before published but be marketed to reach readers.

6/29/2018 08:30:52 pm

You have learned a great deal. Thank you for sharing some of that knowledge. You are correct, some new writers think once the book is published it's a set and forget deal, it will sell itself. As you say, marketing is an essential task.
How long does the research take before you begin writing?
How did you celebrate when you published your first book? What did you spend your first royalty check on?

The Girl Who Left the Village (An African Woman's Journey Book 1) by Eileen Omosa

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