Do you see Cursed Daughters as a love story? What do you think is the central romance of the story?
I do see it as a love story but of a love for self. Not a true love story when you think of romance. A story of finding oneself and loving oneself.
1 Like
I didn’t view Cursed Daughters as a romance story, although there are certainly elements. Family seemed central to the novel more than anything, especially relationships between women in a matriarchal household. I agree that “love of self” and learning to be comfortable living life as a strong individual first was another message.
I wouldn’t call it a love story. I think it was a tale of searching for one’s identity finding it as both a part of the family and as a separate entity.
There seemed to be such a struggle for every woman to establish her own identity.
1 Like
I agree with previous comments, but there was a struggle among the generations. The pressure of the inevitable effect of the curse was gloomy.
Love and relationships were important elements of the story but I do not consider it to be a love story. As others have mentioned, the more important parts of the story were the family dynamics, search for identity, learning to love yourself and to live life on your own terms.
Definitely not a romance, but certainly a lot of love between the family of women. It was heartbreaking, in my opinion, that they wanted to help each other but were so completely unable to do so. They were helping in the way they knew how to, but it wasn’t what the various women needed. I felt the disconnect between the cousins and between mothers/daughters was especially sad.
2 Likes
Sums up my opinion perfectly!!
I agree that the relationships you mentioned made me sad.
I didn’t view it as a love story. There were romances and even love between some couples. But the theme seemed to be the failures of the couples and the women accepting the curse and not fighting it. I’d say Monife’s romance was the central romance of the book as it had repercussions with the women of the family represented in this book.
Mo, Ebun, Eniiyi - in the famous words of Rhett Butler were intent of throwing happiness away. So the love story was quashed - with the possible exception of Ebun and Eniiyi’s father at the end. But I’m not sure that survived either since Ebun still believed in the curse.
I don’t think of this as a traditional love story. I think love in this story is distorted by fear, superstition, and the trauma passed on from generations. A complex love story between mothers and daughters and how love is passed down.
1 Like
I agree not a love story but the women certainly cared and loved each other.
I think there was more lust than love going on! I’m not sure the younger women could have found romantic love as long as they lived in the Falodun home with the older generations. That arrangement seemed stifling.
I see this novel more of a story of unrequited love. All the women experienced what they thought was love but were too consumed by the family curse to follow that love to fruition.
1 Like
All of these
I so agree, it was a family drama based on this curse, not a romance, only lust.
Yes in the sense of learning self love and the importance of family love but also its pitfalls. Ultimately I think this was a story of mother and daughters and how we have to break away from each other and still love one another.
I did not see this as a love story. With Monife, I felt that she desperately wanted to hang on, but I didn’t feel that it was really love. It felt like she just wanted to have a lasting relationship.