This story had yet to be told, at least in the manner and perspective in which British-Ghanaian native Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond did in the novel “Powder Necklace.” Almost everyone who gets to experience Ghana’s education system at the secondary level has an interesting story to tell, one often filled with colorful memories of youth. In “Powder Necklace,” Brew-Hammond pilots the reader into a boarding school where, according to most Ghanaian students’ standards, is the most fun. The reader, however, is also drawn into areas of grave concern to African parents and their foreign-born or foreign-raised offspring: cultural and generational differences as well as communication gaps.
Many parent-child relationships amongst Africans in the Diaspora suffer greatly under these three areas, especially when parents fail to understand the emotional state or growth process of a child thrown into a culture different from that of the parents’. As demonstrated in “Powder Necklace,” the main character, Lila, often engaged in soliloquies because no one seemed to understand or respect her desires and feelings. When her mother suddenly shipped her off to Ghana to attend secondary school, with no initial discussion of it, because she walked in on Lila at home watching TV with a boy from school, it left the 14-year-old girl devastated, believing for a while that her mother’s love for her was defined by the things she did or did not do. Without much lucid and healthy dialogue between the two women, Lila was left with many assumptions especially after learning in Ghana that the reason she was suddenly shipped off was because her mother needed a break. With a father who only called on holidays and birthdays, there was not much to validate her worth, at least in the eyes of a 14-year-old.
After six months at a boarding school she initially viewed with disdain, Lila was one day plucked out of her new-found home and shipped back to London without any warning only to find out her mom was engaged to a man called Ronan. And still, no real communication took place between mother and daughter; Lila was once again left with assumptions that eventually drove her to adopt an unhealthy lifestyle of smoking cigarettes and marijuana.
“Powder Necklace” subtly peels back into full view the many layers of parent-child relationship issues found in most African households. Both parties often fail to understand the perspective of the other because both believe themselves to be right. Some parents’ attempts to raise children with strict African rules in a liberal culture, sometimes the only culture known and embraced by the child, usually fail miserably. The children, on the other hand, often fail to understand that their parents’ ultimate desire is to keep them grounded and most importantly, help them to embrace, appreciate and be proud of a culture that is usually the make up of both parents.
Although sprinkled in bits throughout the book, Brew-Hammond does not linger in this area for too long. Readers get to see life at a boarding school in Ghana. Those who have ever attended school in Ghana are left with the after-taste of nostalgia and those who have never experienced it get a pretty good glimpse of that life, though descriptions in a book, as often could be, fail to truly capture the fun in what appears to be terrible conditions.
The book generally is an easy read. Brew-Hammond’s attempts to introduce Ghanaian words and slang to the reader add color to it. Not very often, if it has ever been done, are books written about secondary school experiences in Ghana. The author spot lights numerous elements of the Ghanaian culture through complaints or adorations, although the reader may disagree with some observations, it is fair to say that it perfectly fits the perspective from which it was written: a young, British-Ghanaian girl who initially held very poor views of Ghana.