'A Season of Light' explores trauma and resilience in a Nigerian family

Julie Iromuanya’s novel follows a father’s unraveling as past horrors resurface.

Illustration by Aelitta Andre

By Novanka Laras and Sarah Oktaviany

A Season of Light, by Julie Iromuanya

Julie Iromuanya’s A Season of Light is a gripping exploration of trauma, identity, and family bonds. At the heart of the novel is Fidelis Ewerike, a Nigerian immigrant whose seemingly stable life in Florida begins to crumble after the 2014 abduction of 276 schoolgirls in Chibok, Nigeria. The tragedy forces him to confront memories of his own painful past—a past he has long buried in silence.

Fidelis was once a child soldier, drafted at 16 into the Biafran army during Nigeria’s civil war. He survived imprisonment, horrors of war, and unimaginable loss before escaping to the United States, where he built a new life with his wife, Adaobi. The couple created an existence filled with material success, striving to provide their two American-born children with opportunities they never had. But the American dream they worked so hard to maintain is fragile, resting on Fidelis’ ability to suppress his past.

The breaking point

When Fidelis hears about the Chibok kidnappings, the stability he has carefully constructed begins to unravel. He becomes obsessed with the sovereignty of the Biafran nation, reconnecting with a group of aging veterans who dream of one day reclaiming their homeland. His mental state deteriorates rapidly, leading to erratic behavior that alarms his family. He loses his job, and the Ewerikes are forced to abandon their affluent lifestyle, moving into a decaying housing development that symbolizes the collapse of their aspirations.

At the core of Fidelis’ unraveling is the memory of his younger sister, Ugochi, who disappeared at 13 during the war. The abduction of the Chibok girls stirs deep-seated guilt and unresolved grief. His protective instincts, distorted by his trauma, lead him to control his teenage daughter, Amara, with increasing severity. Seeing her wear lipstick—a symbol of approaching womanhood—he reacts violently, associating her with the lost innocence of his sister. He destroys her clothes, confiscates her phone, and even locks her in her room, convinced that he is shielding her from an unseen threat.

A family in crisis

Adaobi, once the pillar of the family, initially tries to conceal her husband’s unraveling. She clings to social status, hoping to salvage what remains of their carefully curated life. Desperate for answers, she turns to an eccentric pastor whose extreme religious practices only add to the novel’s rich tapestry of dark humor and irony.

Amara, restricted from the outside world, finds an unexpected romance with a boy she would never have noticed under normal circumstances. Meanwhile, her younger brother, Chuk, gains a deeper understanding of his father’s hidden wounds when he encounters bullying in their new neighborhood. Through their struggles, the Ewerike children begin to piece together the fragments of their father’s past, discovering the unspoken history that has shaped their family’s destiny.

Confronting the past

Despite its heavy themes, A Season of Light is not just a story of loss but one of resilience. Iromuanya weaves humor and tenderness into the narrative, preventing it from becoming overwhelmingly bleak. The novel examines how silence and repression can fracture a family more deeply than any external force.

As Fidelis spirals further, his family is faced with a choice: continue burying their painful history, or confront it together. The novel ultimately reveals that true healing begins not in forgetting, but in understanding. The Ewerikes learn that the past, no matter how painful, must be acknowledged to break the cycle of trauma.

Through A Season of Light, Iromuanya crafts a luminous and thought-provoking tale that sheds light on the immigrant experience, generational trauma, and the fragile nature of the American dream. It is a novel that lingers, challenging readers to consider the weight of unspoken history and the courage it takes to face the darkness.