Chika Unigwe, On Black Sisters' Street

On Black Sisters' Street - Chika Unigwe

A Review

It does not happen very often to me that I pick up a book, read it and find myself really moved by it. But this is what happened with "On Black Sisters' Street" by Chika Unigwe.

"On Black Sisters' Street" is a story about 4 women who came from Africa to Europe, and are now working as prostitutes. It is the death of Sisi that triggers the untold to be unveiled and where we learn about these four very different women and their individual stories. One thing I can tell you is that this is not even remotely related to the story of Sissi, the young Austrian empress some of us know from the movies and history classes. Our Sisi in "On Black Sisters' Street" may dream of the wealth and glamour of a princess, she will make pretend she is a princess, but the reality is that her situation is very far removed from royalty or any luxury at all. Chika Unigwe makes Sisi's passion for life and how she follows her dreams shines through. No matter how bad her situation is, Sisi lives in hope and with strength and energy we can recognise, admire and identify with.

Sisi is the main character and story line that runs through the book as a red thread but where Chika Unigwe shows fantastic skill is in the manner in which she writes four different stories about four different women all with their own individual voices. These different voices and backgrounds show us worlds we know or worlds we hear about or even worlds we do not want to know, all in a way which is engaging and captivating.

The research for this book, took Chika Unigwe to meet and talk to women in Antwerp who are working in this sector. Yet, contrary to what one would expect, this book has not become a campaigning document. It is very much a novel. A novel I really enjoyed because once I read the last page and closed the book it was not as easy to put it down. A good read leaves you to reflect and you want to place it in your own life, it leaves you with a thought or two, and "On Black Sisters' Street" definitely managed to do all of this. I have only seen one review of the book and the conclusion was that this is "an important work" and I can only agree.

Reviewed by Stef Van den Heuvel.

7th November 2009.