A review of Busola Fawole 'To Love Annabelle Revesby' by Prince Ezeabata Chibuzor

 A REVIEW OF BUSOLA FAWOLE ‘TO LOVE ANNABELLE REVESBY’

 

 

When you read a European book, you expect to see a European author, however the young talented Busola Fawole, one of Africa’s fast growing writers, in the genre of prose is changing the narrative. She doesn’t only master the telling of African stories for Africans, but she also tells the European stories for Europeans.

 

Her ‘To Love Annabelle Revesby’ is one amongst other peculiar books authored in her name, the book begins with the beautiful, yet unmatched relationship between two women. Annabelle and Anna. One is a lady, while the other is a maid. One is rich, while the other is poor. One is been served, while the other is serving. One is betrothed to get married, while the other is to remain single.

 

As the story progressed, we found out the resentment of Lady Annabelle Revesby, an elite lady, the daughter of one of the powerful lords in the country, Lord Revesby who was arranged to marry Lord Aaron Rodborough. Lord Aaron Rodborough is a young man, he seems to be one of the young lords in the country, but he was blind, and because if his virtual impediment the Lady Annabelle Revesby resents the idea of marrying him. In her words, she said;

“I will not marry him. He is blind and will never see my beauty. What use am I to him if he can’t embrace my beauty? He is a cripple and I can’t be associated with that”

Finally, she was able to convince her personal maid, to disguise as a Lady, wear her cloths and marry the blind Lord Aaron, while she elopes with her lover, one of her father’s groomsmen. The plan worked, but as to how long is shall hold, we never can tell.

 

The book speaks of destiny. Sometimes destiny could be hidden. Anna the maid, was destined for greatness, indirectly, we never knew, until fate brought her to the table of greatness. By destiny and fate, she became a handmaiden in the household of Lord Revesby. By destiny and fate, she secretly sends food and money to her family, which the Lady Annabelle knows about. By destiny the Lady is being forced into a marriage, not of her own will. By destiny, Anna stepped into the Lady’s shoes and afterwards, married Lord Aaron Rodborough and that was how destiny and fate led her to the table of greatness.

 

Love is one of the powerful emotion a person can feel. From the book, we could see how much power love yields, to make Lady Annabelle Revesby forfeits her family, class, influence and friends to elope with a lowly man into an unknown future, filled only with hopes and dreams of a beautiful family. Anna and Lord Rodborough on the other hands, soon began to fall deeply in love, that even after the departure of Anna, when the truth was out, he forgave her and forge ahead into a beautiful future with her.

 

Busola Fawole choice of words is clean and clear. She painted an exact picture of a gothic society, which makes the reader wonder, as to the ingenuity of her imaginative will power. The language represents a cultural English society. The diction, imagery and characters tells one story, through a refined English sight and background. The description of the buildings, the walls, the room and clothing makes the reader glued to the perfect picture the author painted.

 

A deeper study of both characters – Annabelle and Anna- reveals that a person has absolute control of his or her life, with the actions and inactions he takes and not take. Lady Revesby in contrast to Anna, has control over her life. She decides on what to do and what she wants. Anna on the other hand, do not have the freedom and will to decide her life. She is perpetually under control, even when she married the Lord Rodborough, she is still under the control of her lies, that she can never become herself. At various points, she has attempted to break loose of that ‘shell’, but consistently, she falls back to being under the control of Annabelle, her past, her fears, her lies, her falsehood.  We find, Anna trying to live her life, and that of another, and finally abandoning her life, for that of another. The conflicting personalities in one. She tries to hide the truth, but she will always come in terms with the truth behind closed doors, but her fears wouldn’t let her, let go, until finally. She had no option, when the tide turned, to admit and run away. She couldn’t stand up to her fears, she decide to abandon her home, and love one, for fear.

 

This is the peculiarity of the common man. The common man is so minute, and he is easily pulled into the schemes, whims and agitations of smarter people. Anna represents that uncommon man, who is perpetually drawn, and controlled like a foot soldier for the movements of the smarter man. Anna is the uncommon one, while Annabelle is the smarter one, who exerts sufficient control over her life.

To Love Annabelle Revesby is one book, I recommend to every lover of art, and culture. 

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Prince Ezeabata Chibuzor is a writer and publisher. He is the founder of Association of Creative Writers, author of Ghost of Sparta and the executive director of PurposeForte. 

He writes from Abuja, Nigeria.