Chapter summaries Cursed Daughters Oyinkan Braithwaite

Chapter 35 Summary: Falodun Family Curse

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

Kemi, a descendant of the cursed Feranmi through a long line of daughters and sons, meets her first husband at age seventeen while visiting an aunt near Lagos. He wins her over with gifts and flattery; she enjoys the attention and material benefits without considering consequences. When the forty-five-year-old man asks her father for her hand, Kemi is shocked—she had expected to marry for love. Her mother gives her away without consulting her.

Kemi quickly gives birth to a son, securing her place in the household. However, her husband dies only a few years later, leaving her and the toddler with no financial protection. Forced to remarry, she accepts a tall, dark, handsome second husband introduced by a friend. He proves cruel, beating and insulting her. When he turns his anger toward her son, Kemi packs their belongings and flees.

Her third husband is wealthy but chronically unfaithful. Kemi accepts the arrangement but regularly checks for sexually transmitted diseases. During these visits, she confides in her doctor, then laughs with him, then kisses him, and becomes pregnant by him. It is the closest thing to love she has felt. When her husband discovers the affair and the illegitimate child, he throws her out. Kemi retreats to her grandfather’s house with the baby who needs her most—her daughter, Ebun.

Key Events

Kemi is introduced as a descendant of Feranmi, the original cursed woman, through generations (Afoke, Kunle, Tobi, Yemisi, Wemimo, Feranmi).
She meets her first husband at seventeen; he courts her with trinkets and flattery.
She is given away in marriage without consent and quickly bears a son.
Her first husband dies, leaving her and her son unprotected.
She remarries a tall, handsome, but violent man.
She endures his abuse until he threatens her son, then flees with the child.
Her third husband is wealthy and unfaithful; she tolerates his infidelity.
She has an affair with her doctor, becomes pregnant, and is thrown out when discovered.
Kemi chooses to keep her baby girl Ebun and moves to her grandfather’s house.

Character Development

Kemi: Begins as a naïve teenager dazzled by gifts and status, then matures through loss, abuse, and betrayal. Her final act—fleeing with Ebun—shows a protective, decisive strength absent earlier. She learns to prioritize her child’s safety and her own survival over social standing.
Supporting Figures: The unnamed husbands represent three archetypes of male power: the provider who dies prematurely, the abuser, and the wealthy philanderer. None offer genuine partnership; each reinforces the cycle of exploitation.

Themes, Symbols, and Motifs

Family Curse as Repeating Pattern: Kemi’s story mirrors her ancestors’—early marriage, loss, hardship, and motherhood under duress. The genealogy at the chapter’s start ties her fate directly to Feranmi’s original curse.
Marriage as Transaction: Kemi is given away, then later remarries for economic necessity. Love is absent in the first two unions; the third offers only material comfort.
Resilience and Flight: Each time survival demands it, Kemi leaves. Her retreat to her grandfather’s house with Ebun suggests a return to origins and a refusal to let the cycle destroy the next daughter.
Infidelity as Escape: The affair with the doctor is described as “the closest thing to love”—a rare moment of genuine connection, though it costs her security.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter anchors the family curse in a concrete generational record, naming mothers and daughters back to Feranmi. It deepens the reader’s understanding of how the curse manifests across time—not as supernatural punishment but as patterned socioeconomic and emotional vulnerability. Kemi’s decision to keep Ebun and return home parallels earlier women’s choices and sets up Ebun’s role in the larger narrative. The chapter also broadens the novel’s critique of marriage as a system that traps women rather than protects them.

Study Questions

Why does Kemi marry her first husband even though she does not love him?
She is seventeen and enjoys the gifts and attention, but she is not consulted. Her mother arranges the marriage, and Kemi lacks the agency or support to refuse. She later reflects that she was handed over “like a lamb to the slaughter.”
What causes Kemi to leave her second husband?
She endures physical and verbal abuse, but the breaking point comes when he turns his anger toward her son. She prioritizes her child’s safety and flees, showing a shift from passive endurance to active protection.
How does the chapter develop the idea of the Falodun family curse?
The opening genealogy ties Kemi directly to Feranmi, the woman who was cursed. Kemi then repeats key patterns: early marriage, loss, abuse, infidelity, and eventual retreat. The curse appears less as a magical affliction and more as a recurring social tragedy passed down through generations.