Books

~   Radio Interview about Love Under the Kola Nut Tree  ~

Esther Lamnyam’s  book

Esther donates a portion of the proceeds from the sale of her works  to The Njuh scholarship which she founded in 2001 founded, to help sends disadvantaged village kids to school.

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Book Reviews:
From: Kehbuma Langmia <klangmia@gmail.com>
To: <CAMLIT@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Thursday, July 21, 2011 12:18:10 PM GMT-4
Subject: [CAMLIT] Love Under the Kola Nut Tree ( Esther Lamnyam)

Dear all,
I have just finished reading “Love under the kolanut tree” by Esther Lamnyam. I have never, during all my 30 plus years in pursuing academic journey come across a book that has shaken by body parts and broken my body foundation. My entire internal and external body structure needs to be rebuilt as I conclude reading this book. I have spoken, quoted and written about my love for Bernard Fonlon’s ” Genuine Intellectual” that I read thirteen times during and after my undergraduate days at Ngoa-Ekelle. It helped to shaped my academic journey. Since then I have read other works with some curiosity to study the structure of putting sentences together or seeking the truth that I never totally embraced. But just pure luck brought me to grab a copy of Lamnyam’s “Love under the kolanut tree” and I am now psychologically and spiritually going back to my mother’s womb to be born anew. Like the celebrated poet Henry Vaughn said we sometime need to retreat to childhood, I thought I read him and John Donne in CPC Bali just to pass my “A” Levels and go and collect my own portion of “Bourse” at Ngoa- Ekelle. After reading Lamyam, I have come face-to-face on the cross road between fiction and reality. At this junction, to paraphrase Ola Rotimi’s ” The Gods are not to blame”, I don’t know which road leads to Ede or Oshogbo. They are all similar with cow dungs on their paths. Lamnyam’s book cascades through the autobiographical and the biographical as they intersect each other at the crossroad. The spiritual vocal charms of Maya Sophia ( the central xter from Africa) transform the lives of single and married couples in North America who were living in the shadows of ill-conceived and ill-defined relationships. By immersing myself (through empathy) as I read this book, I came across one of the biggest falsity of human existence.” WE ARE NOT WHO WE THINK WE ARE”. But why? Lamnyam answers this question thorough her portrayal of Josh, Juliette, James, Dr. Morgan and Toni in her novel. Using wit and humor thorough a rare ingenious selection of word choice, this lady has succeeded to surpass some of the African and western scholars I had spent all my energies reading in Bali College, Ngoa-Ekelle, Europe and North America. She is an academic pearl that has been hiding under the Kola nut tree making love to writing, prayer and speaking engagements. Lamnyam reminds me of Elechi Amadi in his depiction of the love relationship between Ekweume and Ihiuoma in “The Concubine”. What makes her go a step further is her skill in weaving reality and fiction to the extent of blurring the boundary between them. She has come up with another new genre of fiction writing which I have decide to call “docu-novelogue”. You don’t know whether you are reading a work of fiction or you are swallowing your own vomit. Your body shakes and your spirits are on high alert just as you start the first sentence. Never has a work consumed my entire two weeks while on vacation to the extent of making me see my own weakness in the way I operate as a husband, father and friend. Even my wife has noticed the change in me. Screaming, yelling, quarreling, wishing bad omens to others put me in quadrant B during my forty plus years on earth. I needed to be in quadrant A where positive energies reside. All the years of baptism, confirmation, first holy communion and weekly rituals of Sunday church services, prayers in private and publicly, traditions and customs etc did not bring me to self realization. Esther Lamnyam’s “Love Under the Kola Nut Tree” succeeded where others fail.WE ARE NOT WHO WE THINK WE ARE. We are the niets and only the secret stone from Malah village in Africa can turn our lives around.                            — Kehbuma Langmia

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To All,
It has been almost two years that I know Esther Lamnyam. I got to meet her through a girl on a plane going to Maryland. The girl became my friend, and as our conversation carried out we found ourselves talking about “Love Under The Kola Nut Tree”. My friend was reading the book at the time and she asked if I had read the book too. I said “No, why?” She then explained that I had mentioned so many thoughts that had been discussed in the book.
Being the fact that I don’t read much, I was amazed that someone had written thoughts that I had been saying. Obviously thoughts that had been my beliefs about certain topics of life, especially relationships. At this point, my interest grew tremendously into this book and she wrote down the name for me. She then turned the book over and showed me the picture of the author. I didn’t think much because I don’t know too many authors, so I didn’t understand the point. She then mentioned that the author, Esther Lamnyam, was her “Auntie”. I was amazed and didn’t know how to reply. I had never met an author before.
As our conversation carried, she told me that she would introduce me to her through the internet and I could get a copy of her book with her autograph. I was so happy and couldn’t wait to receive the book and brag to my family and friends.
I got the book around December of 2009, right around my birthday. It was the best thing I had ever received. I immediately started reading it and still today, the things said in that book ring in my ears in different situations in life. The topics discussed in the book are so true and so deep that even if you try to deny it, whatever you are reading a story of your own comes to mind and you start to compare. The one that always come to my mind is the girl with all of the animals and which one she takes home. She takes the snake home because it was wounded and then gets bitten by it. I don’t want to reveal the whole story, but once you read the book you will understand me better. When I read that story I thought of someone that was a “snake” and I knowingly took it home.
After having read this book, I have not stopped talking about it and even though it’s been almost two years, and I am momentarily in S. Korea, I still find people to talk about this book to and even look for it at foreign book stores. I hope you take the time to read this book as it will enrich your mind with spirit, soul, wisdom and leave you enlightened and mesmorized for a lifetime.
Sincerely,
-Yasemin Ramadanova

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Love Under the Kola Nut Tree:  A Book Review
On picking up this book one may be intimidated by a wealth of content and advice; beyond the advice are stories of individuals and the challenges in their lives. Browsing through the first two chapters raises a set of questions with the litany of names beginning with the strange appearance of a Dr Arthur Morgan and Maya Sophia in Malah, a typi¬cal African village. One is quickly struck by cross-cultural themes and yet this is not an American work, nor an African one. For whom could such a book be intended?
As if the opening chapters are just a test case, the story unfolds rapidly in subsequent chapters as the characters take on flesh, assume human faces, weaknesses, and distinct personalities. In the process, Maya Sophia, Dr Arthur Morgan, and Mariyah Lawrence become true larger than life figures. Incidents like Micah’s accident or artifacts such as the ancestral stone or mystical eggs, become means by which the lessons of life are taught.
One of the major themes in the book deals with the dignity of women, who in Malah are typical Amazons, imbued by tradition with tremendous powers and knowledge as typified by Maya Sophia. Yet, while the “woman” as co-creator with God has appreciable clout, unfortunately she scarcely exploits this. If there is a basic lesson it might be that “when the womb of creation cries, the heavens respond”. Women have authority and wisdom which they must exercise; Maya Sophia teaches them to do so.
Maya Sophia in particular is an embodiment of wisdom sagacity and tradition, ably blending the mutually exclusive components of Christianity, Science, Philosophy, Ethics, Ancestral Worship, Metaphysics and Modernity – all of which are carefully crafted and made acceptable. Consequently, a reader well informed in such areas of knowledge will benefit the most from this blending of themes. Maya Sophia passionately believes in the infinite and unfailing power of love and goodness and gives practical lessons in dating, courtship, marriage, love-making, child-bearing and conflict resolution.
Maya Sophia acquires such a compelling personality that the reader instinctive¬ly looks up to her for advice and direction. The author ingeniously creates continuous episodes and suspense spiced with witticisms to sustain attention. Some scenes are so cleverly set that the reader is moved either to near tears, spontaneous laughter, or simply carried off into fantasy. Frequently one has to pinch oneself to realize that this is all fiction.
Together with the “Woman” the author sees the universe as one whole, indivisible and alive, transcended by the Creator who is all pervasive and omniscient. Nature is held as the greatest teacher and instantly punishes those who violate its laws. The prevail¬ing philosophy is holistic, pro-life, eco-friendly and calls for universal harmony with all animate and inanimate creations.
The author uses fiction to present serious lessons. Each character ends up becoming a channel through whom genuine advice is given. All the complicated and intractable problems raised eventually find amicable lasting solutions derived from Maya Sophia’s sagacious lessons in conflict resolution. At some points there is a strong urge for the reader
to take down notes as if it were a text book and not a work of fiction. This book is difficult to classify as it straddles and encompasses the vital lessons of life for all. In short, it is a reference book interwoven with stories.
The reader will decide if this book is for women, for men and women to learn about relationships, or for Americans to understand their roots in Africa. However interpreted, this book has a broad appeal. No one can afford to miss the opportunity to drink out of the fountain of wisdom compressed in this masterpiece.
Anthony Ndi & Thomas Manson,
Camero-Canadian Book Review Team,
Vancouver, British Columbia

Bulk Order Requests:
To order Esther Lamnyam’s book, “Love Under The Kola Nut Tree. What City Moms Didn’t Tell You About Creating Fulfilling Relationships, visit Amazon.com . For orders of 500 copies or more, email us at info@estherlamnyam.com. Bulk discounts on orders less than 500 copies are not available.

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