Powder Necklace: A Novel

Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond

Apr 2010 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

To protect her daughter from the fast life and bad influences of London, her mother sent her to school in rural Ghana. The move was for the girl’s own good, in her mother’s mind, but for the daughter, the reality of being the new girl, the foreigner-among-your-own-people, was even worse than the idea.

During her time at school, she would learn that Ghana was much more complicated than her fellow ex-pats had ever told her, including how much a London-raised child takes something like water for granted. In Ghana, water “became a symbol of who had and who didn’t, who believed in God and who didn’t. If you didn’t have water to bathe, you were poor because no one had sent you some.”

After six years in Ghana, her mother summons her home to London to meet the new man in her mother’s life—and his daughter. The reunion is bittersweet and short-lived as her parents decide it’s time that she get to know her father. So once again, she’s sent off, this time to live with her father, his new wife, and their young children in New York—but not before a family trip to Disney World.

Ratings and reviews

A remarkable debut novel by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, "Powder Necklace" is nothing less than a heart-wrenching tour de force of the transformational journey of a young girl shuttling physically and emotionally across three continents and between parents. Wading into the complex territory of identity and fate, "Powder Necklace" reiterates that “life takes time to live”, which, in essence, forms the very basis of this absorbing novel. Raised by a single mother, Lila is a British teenager born to a Ghanaian family. To protect her from the bad influences of London, Lila's mother quite abruptly sends her off to her native Ghana to attend Dadaba Girls Secondary School. Her mother hopes to provide Lila with the opportunity to discover her roots. However, Ghana comes as an utter shock to Lila; it is beyond her wildest imaginations. Over the course of the time Lila spends at boarding school, she lives in her own worst nightmare. She struggles to blend in with her fellow classmates who see her as an outsider that doesn't belong there. Despite getting her hair chopped off and being the object of constant public ridicule, Lila endures all the hurdles she faces with sheer determination, surprising even herself. Soon, she finds comfort in the company of three friends: Brempomaa, Ivy, and Hari. But, just when Lila is getting adapted to the culture of her native country and getting comfortable under her own native skin, Lila is brought back to London where she meets the new man in her mother's life. Lila's frustrations with her mother and even her life reach its peak when she is sent off to live with her Dad and stepmother, Joo-Li, in New York. Settling into her new life in America, Lila struggles to find her identity, her true nature, and her place in the world. "I resented Mum for putting me in this situation again and for not being strong enough to handle her full responsibility to me. She wasn't allowed breaks from me, just like I wasn't allowed breaks from her. She was my mother and I was her daughter. I was born to be her responsibility.” (196) The vivid, awe-inspiring detail with which Brew-Hammond carefully describes Lila's life in Ghana comes as a disturbing shock. You will find yourself cringing at the hardship of life in Ghana. The luminous prose takes the reader, along with the protagonist, into a world where water is scarce. The only way people preserve their pride and dignity is with the powder necklaces they wear to distinguish those who had water to clean themselves from those who had no water at all. "Water became a symbol of who had and who didn't. If you didn't have water to bathe with you were poor because no one has sent you some. Those who were lucky enough to be able to bathe made sure everyone knew it by painting their throats with chokers of powder. “(87) Along this extraordinary journey across Ghana, London, and New York, Lila's relationship with her parents and friends are thoroughly explored. Lila’s struggles with her sense of identity and desire to discover her roots are told tenderly and realistically. In this emotionally-charged, sentimental tale of a girl lost in her own identity, "Powder Necklace" wins you over. It is an engrossing novel that deserves a five-star rating. I highly recommend "Powder Necklace"!

About the author

Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond has written for AOL, Parenting Magazine, the Village Voice, Metro and Trace Magazine. Her short story “Bush Girl” was published in the May 2008 issues of African Writing and her poem, “The Whinings of a Seven Sister Cum Laude Graduate Working Board as an Assistant,” was published in 2006’s Growing up Girl Anthology. A cum laude graduate of Vassar College, she attended secondary school in Ghana . Powder Necklace is loosely based on the experience.