Book Review: ‘Sector IV’ a war story so vivid and compelling.

By China Acheru

Have you ever been held spellbound by a story, so much so that the thin veil that separates fiction and reality simply melts before your eyes? The plot crystallizes and your subconscious drifts into a melancholic state where you virtually become one of the characters in the story?

That story is Sector IV.

The title may appear insignificant until you have devoured a third of Abigail Anaba’s book, Sector IV.

The setting is Eastern Nigeria between 1967 and 1970 during the Nigeria-Biafra war.

‘Another Biafra war story’ I hear you say? Certainly not! In the past, we have read from the Generals, coup plotters and other major players in the war but Anaba takes us somewhere else.

Many lives were affected by this war and Sector IV captures the chequered emotions of love, hate, jealousy, conspiracy, tragedy, family life and of course the war itself from a completely different angle.

Abigail’s narrative is so compelling and engrossing that as early as page five, you invariably find yourself assuming a character walking the dirt paths of Nchara; at the stream with Onyinyechi taking a bath or watching from a distance; you are gripped with fear as the python slithers through foliage, extends its wide jaws close to 180 degrees and swallows ……! I will not ruin your adventure and choose to stop here.

Sector IV encompasses a wide variety of emotions; tragic love where Onyinyechi falls head over heels for Duke; uncertainty as in Onyinyechi and Okwuduwa not knowing which way to go; hate as the reciprocal emotions between Nigerians and Biafrans; jealousy being what Ogechi felt towards Onyinyechi; conspiracy as personified by Duke; tragedy is Onyinyechi and the chain of deaths surrounding her in the space of just two weeks coupled with all the heartbreak and rejections, and then of course the war itself.  

If you love a good old fictional war story interlaced with romance, history lessons, suspense and tragedy then you should grab this book by visiting www.konga.com, www.eljara.com or for digital copies, www.amazon.com.

And if the allure of paper is too strong to resist or the good old delivery style, you can purchase a copy and get it sent to your doorstep for only N2500 or you can pick it up yourself in any of the following cities - Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan and Enugu for N2,000.

You can follow Abigail Anaba on twitter @Anabagail.