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44 pages 1 hour read

Flora Nwapa

Efuru

Flora NwapaFiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1966

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Chapters 16-17Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 16 Summary

Nwashike’s death devastates Efuru, but something else is weighing on her mind. Gilbert was not present at her father’s burial, and no one knows where he has gone. Four weeks later, he still has not returned. Efuru wonders if something happened to him. Nkoyeni is home, and Efuru reasons that he would not leave her because she is expecting.

Amede comes to Efuru and tells her that Nkoyeni is in labor. Efuru arrives, and she and Ajanupu help Nkoyeni deliver a baby boy.

Gilbert returns two months after his son’s birth. He does not look well, and he will not say where he has been. Ajanupu calls Efuru to her house and tells her that she overheard that Gilbert was jailed in Onicha for three months. Ajanupu does not know what he did and hopes that it was not theft.

Efuru is angry because Gilbert hid the reason for his absence from her. She realizes that she has loved him in vain, just as she did with Adizua, without seeing his true nature. Ajanupu asks what Efuru will do, and Efuru replies that she will ask Gilbert for the truth, and if he does not tell her, she will leave him.

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