BN Book Review: Adéwálé My Mother’s Son by Michael Adesanya | Review by The BookLady NG

The love of a mother is absolute. There are no holds, no barriers, no doubts and most of all, no conditions. It is whole and it fills one up so much that it leaves no space for self-doubt. Mother: a word that typifies so much, heavy as the heavens and stretching to eternity. Mother is home, a safe place. It is joy to have most of one’s life sheltered by the wings of a mother’s love. Adéwálé My Mother’s Son by Michael Adesanya is a book that explores the unvarnished depths of a mother’s love. From the sacrifices made, the tears shed, the sweats formed to the prayers answered, it is definitely a story worth sharing and reading. 

Omotayo starts her life with high hopes and dreams, but along the way things get blurry. She becomes destitute with two children to raise and a husband in absentia. It is a lot for a young woman, but she forges on. I admire her fighting spirit. The one that, although broken, is not hopeless.  Sola Iwonibi’s poem “Homeless, Not Hopeless” perfectly captures their plight. From using one hundred naira to start a corn business to selling ice water for a living, this woman’s strength does not wane. I imagine on some days she feels like quitting or just running away from it all, because people do have their limits. I also imagine her reminding herself that her children are more important. They have to be fed, they have to be sheltered and clothed. More importantly, they have to live a good life. Omotayo knows this and her driving force is love.

This lovely memoir is centered around a mother’s love as glimpsed from the title. The countless times she breaks her back so her children can stand upright. The many times she bends her knees so they can walk without stumbling. The many sacrifices made in order for them to have a future. Michael Adesanya details his mother’s sacrifices for him and his sibling. He details how they get a breakthrough just because of his mother’s humanity and peaceful nature. She embodies so much kindness and it is undoubtedly rooted in love. In fact, she wears love daily as a garment. This love is Michael’s saving grace, his livewire. Michael gets the opportunity to live up to the greatness he carries just because his mother wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Love is the center, the beginning and the end of this book. In it, we find several ways to live and make memorable realities. I like Michael’s story because it takes me on a journey. I experienced the highs, the lows, the great and not so great aspects of their lives. And of course, throughout the book it is evident that their lives are in constant touch with God. Their faith in God forms an integral part of them. This book will rouse many feelings in you, from anger to dissatisfaction and to empathy. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions. But my two takes from it is: love is a powerful force and no matter how long a bad season lasts, the good season will make up for it.