The Cursed Pawpaw – Calabar – 1899

Description

The slave trade had ended, but Calabar was changing under British rule. Imported goods flowed into the region, and bicycles became powerful symbols of wealth, status, and opportunity. For many, owning one represented the arrival of a new way of life.
Nineteen-year-old Ekanem believed that promise.
When two men asked for her hand in marriage, she rejected her hardworking neighbour, Aneikam, and chose the wealthier Eno-Obong, convinced that his prosperity would bring her the life she desired. What appeared to be a wise decision soon became a lifetime of regret.
As hardship settled over her own home, Aneikam prospered with the woman he eventually married. The birth of his children, the growth of his farm, and the peace within his household became constant reminders of the future Ekanem had thrown away.
Everything changed when a pawpaw tree planted on disputed land between their homes began to bear fruit.
To others it was an ordinary tree. To Ekanem it became a living reminder of the happiness she believed had been stolen from her. Driven by jealousy, she sought the help of a village witch, intending to destroy the tree and the family that flourished beside it.
Instead, she awakened forces that reached beyond the living.
Set against the rich cultural landscape of colonial Calabar, The Cursed Pawpaw is a historical novel of love, envy, spiritual consequence, and the price of choices that cannot be undone. It is a story of ordinary lives transformed by extraordinary decisions, where the deepest wounds are often the ones people inflict upon themselves.