Ya Ta/Salamatu

The narrator and central protagonist of the novel is never named though she is given two nicknames in the text: “Ya Ta,” meaning “my daughter” in Hausa; and “Salamatu,” meaning “safety” in Arabic. These names mark two pivotal periods in the narrator’s life: her childhood and young adulthood at home, with her family in northeastern Nigeria; and her new life as the bride of a Boko Haram member. The name that the narrator was given at birth is never revealed to the reader.

At the start of the novel, Ya Ta is a teenager attending school. She is a good student and hopes to receive the Borno State scholarship for promising students from disadvantaged circumstances. In the first half of the novel, Ya Ta receives news that she has been granted the scholarship, making her the first in her village community to receive this scholarship...