Racism
The novel is about female friends who share the same circumstances of birth: having English mothers and Nigerian fathers. As a result of this commonality of parentage, they each have stories to tell of the experience of being biracial women living in London. They do not all share equal experiences of the extent to which they have been exposed to the Nigerian side of their cultural heritage. Ronke is the friend who is most deeply steeped in the Nigerian aspect of her identity to the point that she has chosen to date only black men of African descent. This decision has, perhaps coincidentally, left her the friend with the least satisfying love life. More significantly, however, this also lends more visceral insight into racism than the other three. It is in the gradations of their individual embrace of the Nigerian side of their genetics and the subsequent impact on incidents of racial intolerance that situates the exploration of racism as a theme in all their lives.
The Dynamics of Friendship
The real conflict in the story arrives not in the presence of racial prejudice from a clearly defined outsider, but somewhat ironically in the form of someone who looks like them and shares their experiences. The tight-knit gang of four suddenly is forced to expand by one when Simi introduces a childhood friend, Isobel, into the mix. Any firmly established socially construct dynamic of long-time close friendship is bound to be impacted by the introduction of someone new, but Isobel makes things worse by not playing by the conventional rules of the game demanding slow integration. She arrives larger than life as a disruptive agent capable of destabilizing the status quo immediately. The manner in which her presence so quickly and efficiently reprograms the smoothly efficient friendship into something quite different is the more focused thematic threat tying the individual stories of these women together.
The Subtle Power of Support Systems
The original friendship between the four is the kind of social bond which has in recent decades earned the name support system. Although recognizing the value of their friendships, none of them fully grasp the significance of their close bond for its value as a necessity in their lives. At least, they do not until it is threatened. The title of the book is a Nigerian word which translates into “trouble.” They do not realize it at the time, but the introduction of Isobel into their friendship is the introduction of trouble. It is trouble that will force them to recognize the true value of their little group as a support system with a profound impact upon their lives in ways they have taken for granted.
