Simbi is a vain and foolish young woman who, from boredom with her pampered life, decides to experience poverty and punishment, despite her mother's warning that she will regret it. There is a dark humour in just how quickly her desire ist experience hardship is fulfilled, and her lamentations provoke laughter rather than mercy from her persecutors. However, Simbi proves herself to be a strong, resilient and resourceful woman, who overcomes the trials of the Path of Death and the Dark Jungle, with its noxious Satyr. The moral of the story: Listen to your mother!

There is more humour in this book than others I've read by Tutuola, but it is very dark. Abduction, abuse, murder and infanticide feature, although not as nightmarishly and horrifically as in his earlier works. It's the cruelty of folklore, reflecting those harsh truths of life so often expurgated from fairy tales to make them more suitable for children (or, perhaps, more palatable for domesticated adults to give to their not-yet-tamed offspring).

I enjoyed this book very much, and loved the strength of Simbi's character: a great female protagonist. ( )