Looming Fog Book

Who we are is often directly linked to our gender, so how different would we be if that were stripped away from us and we were treated as less than human because we were neither male nor female?

In 'The Looming Fog' by Rosemary Esehagu, the narrator is an intersexual who was abandoned at the age of seven and left to fend for itself in the rural Nigerian village of Hidaya where no one will even acknowledge its existence.

When the child is born with both male and female parts, its mother takes one look at it and promptly dies. Its father, who is left to raise it alone, wants to run from its presence immediately, but holds out until the child turns seven since it is against societal norms to abandon a child. Esehagu writes, "Child abandonment was unheard of in Hidaya, and through the close interaction of relatives and sometimes friends, Hidaya villagers ensured that there was someone who would assume the responsibility of caring for the child - this, ideally, was a central part of the Hidayan way of life and mentality."

But in the case of this child, no one in the main village steps forward to care for it and as it struggles to survive, it comes to realize that there are three levels of society that have very little to do with each other: "The knowns, the destitute, and the unknowns...were the three established rungs of Hidaya's ladder on which everyone hung." As the child grows, it begins to see the miseries of others in the village and we are introduced to these characters through this unique perspective.

Esehagu raises many points that show the disparity between what the villagers claim to believe and how they live. She holds up a mirror to society, reflecting the hypocrisy and daring us to see what we have become. Through the voice of her nameless, intersexual narrator, she says: "I could see people's lives, but I saw only what I wanted to see: all the misery I told you about. I wanted you to experience misery and the death of your innocent conscience because I felt that if you truly did, I would not be a useless life to you."

None of us want to be useless. We all strive to create lives with meaning, to touch the lives of others in genuine manners so that we will not be forgotten or ignored. The lonely fate of the voice of Esehagu's novel is often our worst fear. We do not want to leave this world without a legacy for future generations.

'The Looming Fog' explores gender roles and societal issues such as poverty. The book is profound and raises many discussion points that would be ideal for a book club selection. I would strongly recommend it.