It’s been a while since I read a book that was all about girlfriends- and when I bought this book, all I wanted was to know about the bond between Ego, Zina and Eriife.

What would make three strong women look back and say, ‘we were girls once?’
This curiosity was not just quenched, it was nourished and enriched by a front row seat into their upbringing- their dreams, hopes and friendship and even the moments that should have broken them and from Nigeria to the UK, USA and back home- across a decade, they were still those little girls deep down asking the world and the society for better- to see them as valuable people, to believe them, to do better for them.

We have no say in the circumstances of our birth, the very things that determine the people we become: our parents, our families, our country.

Told in three parts, you get to see the world through the eyes of each of the characters and this was what I loved most because where Ego storms through the world, Zina borders on reckless ambition while Eriife carries the burden of the world on her shoulder-living for everyone but herself.

Beauty was a double-sided curse. It announced your presence, generated an unwanted buzz and desire within others that you had no control over; it created assumptions about your person, it meant you were hated for a face you didn’t create, even by your own mother.

This is the kind of book you read with your girlfriends, in that book club and talk about it as you snack on something tasty-and better yet have each person come dressed representing a personality of the characters.

You can buy a copy: On Amazon or if you are in Kenya you can place an order with TextBook Center– got it for Kshs 1390.