Immigration is a contentious issue within US and European political discourse. In the past several years, there’s been a resurgence of xenophobia and nativism, as many conservatives scapegoat immigrants as being the source of the nation’s ills (instead of the capitalist, imperialist systems in place that force people to immigrate in the first place). In the debate over the particular issues of immigration, it’s all too easy to reduce human beings down into statistics and numbers, ignoring their intrinsic humanity. One of the primary ways in which we reveal our humanity is through stories. Some of the most powerful and lasting ways in which we can begin to understand the complexities of immigration are by listening to the stories of those caught up in its bureaucratic machinations. 

While, where I live in the United States, the central stories of immigrants that we hear are from Mexico and Central America, there are myriad stories of immigrants from other parts of the world, and the unique difficulties that they face. Separated from their country of origin in a country that is oftentimes hostile to their very presence, immigrants from many different countries and cultures often have similar stories of facing discrimination and hardship in their new home. Additionally, the children of immigrants also face unique challenges of their own, as they are often torn between keeping the traditions of their parent’s country of origin and assimilating into the wider culture. No two stories, however similar they may be, are ever the same. As such, in her debut novel Wrap Me in Trees, Nigerian-born author T. Kenny invites the reader to follow the story of one family from Nigeria over several decades as they struggle to immigrate and acclimate to London and its culture. 

Overview: 

Wrap Me in Trees follows the life of one Nigerian family: Grace, Ernest, and their two children Ìní and Démì. Life in Nigeria in the 90s is difficult for the family, as Ernest’s bookstore is struggling to make ends meet. Although the bookstore is Ernest’s dream, he sells it to have enough money to buy food for his children while Grace moves to England, hoping to find a job as a nurse to help provide for her family. Ernest, meanwhile, stays in Nigeria to take care of the kids and takes a variety of jobs to help supplement their income. The distance between the family is difficult for them to bear, and Grace works tirelessly at a local hospital as she gradually acclimates to English society. After several years apart, Grace is finally able to visit her family back in Nigeria and finds herself struggling with her identity as she feels disconnected from her home country. After much deliberation and cajoling, she convinces Ernest to immigrate to England with her, hoping that there will be greater opportunities for their children to succeed in life. Even though Ernest can find odd jobs here and there, he becomes homesick for his native country, never feeling quite at home in England. 

The second half of the book shifts the focus toward Ìní and Démì, as they face their own set of struggles and face unique forms of discrimination as the children of immigrants. The book follows their development as they grow up and attend college, and the romantic relationships they form with other immigrants as adults. Along the way, we see how Ìní and Démì struggle between following their dreams and fulfilling their parent’s expectations of them. While Ìní feels at home in the UK, Démì, like his father struggles with a longing to return to Nigeria. Will these competing forces ultimately drive the family apart, or can they make their situation work, despite the difficult circumstances? 

Commendations: 

Wrap Me in Trees is a gentle and reflective story of what it means to walk in the various tensions of being an immigrant. T. Kenny paints a painfully honest picture of the struggles that parents go through to provide their children with a better life than they could ever imagine having, which resonated on a deeply personal level with me. T. Kenny does a phenomenal job in making these characters come to life, and the reader feels the pain and struggles they go through, as well as the moments of joy, laughter, and celebration. The books deftly navigate between the different characters, balancing their individual, unique perspectives on what they are going through. Also, taking place over several decades, the reader has the opportunity to see these characters grow and change over the years. It is a deeply character-driven story, and T. Kenny succeeds most when she paints the deep feelings of kin and kinship between the characters, as Grace and Ernest provide for their children while Ìní and Démì attempt to balance their dreams and their parents’ expectations. 

Through it all, the central theme of the book is love, as Grace and Ernest sacrifice so much of themselves and their desires so that their children can have a better life. We also see letters that Ernest writes to Grace during their separation and a note that Démì pens during his tumultuous relationship with Mia. The book highlights the complexities that immigrants face and the burden that our current systems put on families, as it tactfully addresses issues of systemic poverty, racism, and bifurcated identities. Since it is the author’s debut novel, I can tell that some portions of the book are quite autobiographical, and it is illuminating to see her speaking from her own experiences as an immigrant, albeit through the genre of fiction. T. Kenny incorporates several words and phrases in Yoruba, which adds an extra layer of depth to these characters, especially as they communicate with one another while in the UK. Wrap Me in Trees is a gentle and reflective story that emphasizes how immigrants struggle with holding onto their traditions and roots while also navigating, embracing, or possibly even rejecting the new culture in which they find themselves. 

Critique: 

While the first half of the book is deep and reflective, the latter portions tend to speed by quickly with less development. Part of me wanted the portions that deal with Ìní and Démì romantic relationships (with Faison and Mia, among others) to be fleshed out a bit more, as these chapters tend to move quickly, leaving the reader to become less invested in their outcome. While I was enraptured by the story, I wanted it to be a bit more detailed and developed in sections, as some chapters with large emotional buildups are sometimes cut short. The book ended without much final resolution, which to be fair, is reflective of life sometimes. I felt like some loose ends, however, could have been wrapped up to make the ending a bit more satisfying. 

As with most debut novels, the dialogue can also be a bit stilted and unnatural at times, though it doesn’t often distract from the narrative flow of the text. Finally, while I love many books that are published by indie publishers, many of them have issues with spelling errors and grammatical mistakes, which is usually a result of a smaller staff who can give less proofreading to a text before final publishing. Unfortunately, Wrap Me in Trees is no exception; as with many other indie-published books, there are several grammatical errors and a few spelling mistakes in this book, but it's ever too distracting from the central drive of the text. I want to be clear that these should have been caught by her editor, so I can’t fault T. Kenny at all for this aspect of the book. While they are peppered through the text, these grammatical issues are never enough to tarnish or soil the power and impact of the story, and though it could’ve used a bit more polish in places, it remains a wonderfully written and highly commendable debut novel. 

Conclusion: 

Overall, Wrap Me in Trees is a deliberate, reflective, and powerful story of immigration, hope, and the familial ties that bind us together. While it could’ve been developed and polished a bit more in some places, the story is a wonderful debut work from a new and exciting author. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a deeply reflective work that humanizes the experience of immigrants, while opening your eyes to many of the struggles that they face, both before and after they immigrate. On the very last page, I noticed that T. Kenny is releasing a new book, titled The Secrets in the Walls, sometime later this year (2021). After reading Wrap Me in Trees, I’m incredibly excited to see where she goes from here, and I look forward to reading and reviewing more of her work in the near future.