By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu
No Sense of Limits by Araceli Aipoh, Magicword Ltd, Lagos
The city of Lagos is the stuff of riveting literature. It is in trying to capture the very soul of this almost impossible city that Araceli Aipoh narrates in the 383-page novel, No Sense of Limits, the story of the interwoven lives of four high-flying women and the men they love. Written in a racy and flashy style that suits the Lagos setting in all its seduction, squalor, and surprise, No Sense of Limits is a spellbinding story teeming with ambition, betrayal, vengeance and tragedy. Araceli’s world in No Sense of Limits belongs with Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire of the Vanities, a bewildering world in which the written word captures the spirit of the city and the very soul of humanity.
The author Araceli was born in the Philippines but settled in Nigeria following her marriage to a medical doctor who is native to Edo State. Araceli lived for a decade in Lagos in which she was able to experience life lived at the supersonic speed of the almost magic-laden city.
No Sense of Limits mirrors the intervolved lives of Elizabeth and her twin sister Victoria. Infidelity shatters their idyllic world and vengeance supervenes. Add into the mix the convoluted life of Kate, the lawyer prostitute whose affairs lead to murder. The catch happens to be Laura who is the illegitimate daughter trapped in the whirlpool of money and love.
The men in the book are victims of supreme circumstances. Jide is portrayed as a deeply devoted husband who eventually succumbs to temptations of the fleshpots. Taiwo functions as a clever driver who ends up as a heedless informant. As an eminent bank chairman Gabriel has high hopes in grooming his daughter Elizabeth, the indomitable banking heiress, to succeed him but it all gets shattered in the novel’s pulsating climax. The twist in the tale is the dashing millionaire playboy Greg “whose quest for wealth, love, and power comes with a price”.
Araceli’s world in No Sense of Limits belongs with Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire of the Vanities, a bewildering world in which the written word captures the spirit of the city and the very soul of humanity.
Araceli captures the essence of Lagos city through her racy writing style as we witness in pages 301-302: “It was a hot Friday evening and the hostel was abuzz with movements. Students coming in and out. Radios blaring. Girls giggling, gossiping, and moving about. The beehive of activities reached a crescendo between seven and eight in the evening – girls still gossiping, still giggling, but now getting ready for a night out. They were going to parties, they were going to hang out in the nearby bars, and there were night vigils and one-on-one dates. At the parking lot, there were rows of both gleaming and rusty cars. Inside these cars were men of different ages, different looks, different financial capabilities, but of the same intention – to take out a girl who was delectable, desperate and willing. That was how many average Nigerian men got their kicks, mostly men who had nothing to lose except day-old or week-old or month-old semen they needed to offload. And that was how many an average female student got her daily subsistence.”
The moral of No Sense of Limits comes from Greg’s mouth in the very opening lines of the novel: “You can’t buy love, but you can pay for it.” The pun is that there is a steep price to pay. The rich and famous also weep in the darkest of nights, and beyond the fashion and the panache the hurting soul hides.
Every idyllic Eden is meant to be forfeited as in the lost ideal of Milton’s Paradise Lost. With the death of Elizabeth, a heavy tragedy is brewed from the moving smithy of Araceli Aipoh. The personable author deserves bountiful extolling for giving Lagos the humanity that some may not see in the bustling city.
No Sense of Limits is a debut novel that reads like the offering of a tested veteran of the word.
Uzor
Maxim Uzoatu is a renowned poet, journalist and
author.
Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.