Emecheta, Buchi (1944–)
Emecheta, Buchi (1944–)
Nigerian novelist. Born Florence Onye Buchi Emecheta, July 21, 1944, in Yaba, near Lagos, Nigeria; dau. of Jeremy Nwabudike Emecheta and Alice Okwuekwu Emecheta; m. Sylvester Onwordi, 1960 (sep. 1966); children: 5.
At 18, moved to England with husband and her 2 children (1962); earned PhD while raising 5 children; endured physical and emotional abuse from husband, who burned her 1st manuscript; left husband and became a librarian at the British Museum and a teacher; novels, which are often autobiographical and focus on the position of black women in Britain, include In the Ditch (1972), Second-Class Citizen (1974), The Bride Price (1976), The Joys of Motherhood (1979), Destination Biafra (1982), The Rape of Shavi (1983), A Kind of Marriage (1986), Family Bargain (1987), and Gwendolen (1990); also published children's books.