Black author, publisher and cover designer combine on Giller Prize-nominated book

November 1, 2021

Tired of being rejected by book publishers, Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia was considering pursuing the process on her own when Penguin Random House South Africa showed an interest in her first novel.

With the author having spent eight years in Canada pursuing graduate degrees, a literary agent at Penguin – thinking that the novel might resonate with a Canadian publisher -- contacted Dundurn Press that is one of the largest and leading independent publishers.

The timing was perfect.

Scott Fraser, who two years ago became Dundurn’s second publisher when founder Kirk Howard stepped down after 47 years, was looking for an African story with a Canadian connection.

“When the agent gave me the manuscript, I read it, I loved it and I felt I had to make an offer to bring it to North America,” he said.

‘The Son of the House’ is a compelling novel about two women caught in a constricting web of tradition, class, gender and motherhood.

Fraser, who earned a Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal for his time spent as a United Nations Peacekeeper in Sudan while enlisted with the Canadian Armed Forces from 2002 to 2010, said the debut novel is a perfect fit for Dundurn that celebrates its 50th anniversary next year.

“One of the things that drew me to the book is that it is entirely about Black people,” he pointed out. “All the characters are Nigerian and there’s none of the typical frequent narratives we see in North American publishing for Black authors where there are some of the same narratives like police brutality and slavery been told over and over again.  Not to discredit some great writers working in these areas, I wanted something completely different that a North American audience may not have been exposed to before.”

The novel has been shortlisted for this year’s $100,000 Scotiabank Giller Prize. Each of the finalists receives $10,000.

The winner will be announced on November 8.

‘The Son of the House’ tells the story of two Nigerian women, divided by class and social inequality, whose lives intersect after they are kidnapped, held captive and forced to await their fate.

In the citation, the Scotiabank Giller Prize jury said it’s a delightful gift to find a book you feel fortunate to have read, akin to discovering a treasure.

“That is the case with ‘The Son of the House’,” they pointed out. “The novel explores issues of patriarchy and classism, themes of friendship and loss through the lenses of two very different yet unexpectedly connected women in Nigeria. Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia writes a modern novel with fairytale elements and prose that punches you in the gut, leaving you wonderfully stunned by the time the book is finished.”

An avid reader and writer, Onyemelukwe-Onuobia said the story was inspired by different things that happened in her childhood.

“These things that took place in the past also got me to thinking about how women in my part of the world are treated,” she said. “In a sense, that’s what came out in the book. As I was working on it, my mom told me a story that made me think quite deeply about those things in terms of the way women are treated. We grow up in a particular cultural framework and when we live in it, we accept it for what it is. It takes maybe a few outliers to want to change it. For most women, they try to make the best of their situation inside those four walls.”

Written over a one-year period, Onyemelukwe-Onuobia made a few changes to the book as the rejections piled up.

“Every time a publisher turned it down, I read the book again and again and said to myself, ‘it’s not so bad and there must be someone somewhere who would be interested’,” said the Sharjah International Book Fair 2019 Best Fiction Award winner.

After completing her Bachelor of Laws degree at the University of Nigeria, Onyemelukwe-Onuobia came to Canada in 2003.

Before returning to West Africa in 2011, she completed her Master’s and Doctor of Juridical Science at Dalhousie University, did a six-month internship in Ottawa with Health Canada and became a mother to three children.

Accepted into universities in Alberta and Toronto, she settled on Dalhousie because of Jocelyn Downie who teaches health care ethics and law.

“Of all the professors who agreed to supervise me at these schools, she was very warm and friendly and I made my decision based on that,” said Onyemelukwe-Onuobia who vacations in Nova Scotia every other year and plans to enroll her children in Canadian universities. “I just thought it would be awesome to work with her and it turned out to be a brilliant experience.”

Scott Fraser (Photo contributed)

Never before in Dundurn’s history has one of their books being nominated for the biggest prize in Canadian literature.

It’s also the first time in the Giller Prize 27-year history that a publisher, author and cover designer -- all Black -- have been associated with a nominated book. Aaron Marin is a New York-based collage artist and illustrator.

“I hope that my getting into the business encourages more Blacks to consider a career in publishing,” said Ottawa-born Fraser whose father, Donovan Fraser, migrated from Jamaica and is a retired Durham District School Board principal. “I think there’s never been a greater need for Black stories and voices and publishing is one of the vehicles to get our stories out there.”