Subtexts refers to the things left unsaid in a story, inviting the reader to engage in deciphering deeper meanings. Subtext can make a story interestingly complex and captivating. If a writer fails to use subtext effectively, it likely means they have gone to unnecessary lengths to solve every puzzle by explicitly stating all information, leaving the reader with no creative engagement. In her article, ‘How to Write What’s Not Written (Subtext)’, writer, September C. Fawkes, explains subtext as ‘what is implied’. Fawkes further explains that ‘using subtext makes our character and story feel more well-rounded and realistic.’ This is because subtexts are employed by humans in their day-to-day speech. While explaining subtext in her course on the Brittle Paper, Nigerian writer, Molara Wood, says that, ‘subtext is an exhibition of the unexplained’ and ‘to have powerful subtexts, you must have two fixed points and something between them that you do not express.’ Using subtext wrongly does not always mean that the author evades necessary sentences or explanations. It could simply be that a more concise explanation or statement which has an implied meaning is offered to make up for it.  

Ojo’s Fire in the Wind would have been a less cumbersome read if she had demonstrated greater mastery in using subtext. Instead, she provides the reader with excessive information, resulting in long, unwieldy sentences. This issue appears throughout the novel. ‘Susan was born and bred in Freetown so at sixteen going on seventeen, she was very conversant with the geography of the town.’ (Page 33) The sentence, ‘Susan was born and bred in Freetown’ already implies that she is familiar with the ‘geography of the town’ so there was no need for the author to mention this to the reader again. Also, a preceding paragraph stated that she (Susan) ‘was sixteen years old’. Repeating her age in the excerpt above therefore becomes redundant.  

In another part of the novel, Ojo to describe Angela, explains: ‘She was slim and elegant-looking with a dress sense that blew everyone’s mind. She coordinated her colours correctly and made sure she only wore dresses that advertised her figure.’ (Page 35) That a person has ‘a dress sense that blew everyone’s mind’ already suggests the sentence that immediately follows it. Frankly, the reader did not have to be told.  

During Angela’s (who is a Christian) courtship with Ayokunle (a Muslim), a colleague from the department where she lectured, the author explains: ‘…the next thing Ayokunle got was an invitation from his father, Chief Saheed Oladeji, the Chief Imam of Alegongo Central Mosque.’ (Page 41) In the same paragraph, the author goes on to state, ‘Ayokunle’s father was Chief Imam in a big mosque,’ something the reader is smart enough to deduce or simply imagine. 

A milder but clear example of the use of subtext in this novel can be found on page 93. After a heated exchange between Angela and Goke, Ojo explains that Goke ‘turned to give his wife a stern look that sent shivers down her spine’, as if sending shivers down one’s spine does not already denote that it could have been an unpleasant look or experience. 

Much further into the novel, in a flashback into young Angela’s life with her foster parents, the author explains, ‘Mrs Foday was getting better and she could now walk with the help of her crutches without assistance from either Angela or her husband. She could move around the house, play with her children and even lean against the cupboard in the kitchen to do some cooking.’ (Page 152) The entire paragraph above could have ended at ‘assistance’ with no loss of meaning, especially since Mrs Foday’s playing with her children and doing some cooking are insignificant to the story. 

In Fire in the Wind, Ojo displays themes in her novel for an older audience. However, her use of words, especially her display of mastery of subtext suggests that her writing is for children perhaps under the age of three to seven, whom everything must be spelt out to. While this review focuses on Fire in the Wind, it also serves as a subtle reminder to other writers that subtext and subplot are integral features of a novel—elements that might elevate a work from good to exceptional⎈