BOOK OF THE WEEK: THE SMART MONEY WOMAN BY ARESE UGWU

Hello people.

The average African woman, influenced in part by romance novels as well as by culture, grows up with the belief that her financial stability is dependent on her husband. I used to think this way until my husband was involved in a terrible accident that he couldn't have survived but for the grace of God. The incident shook me (then pregnant for our first child) at the time as I wondered how I would have coped if tragedy struck; however, I soon shrugged it off saying: 'God forbid; I can never be a widow at this stage of my life.'

Within the past six months, however, two women I am well acquainted with lost their husbands and as I commiserated with them, I was forced to ask myself: 'if the unexpected happens now; are you prepared for it?'

This week's blog post is a review of Arese Ugwu's book, The Smart Money Woman. Written in a unique and compelling format, Arese in the book motivates women to take responsibility for their financial future by cultivating a savings and investment culture, rather than depending on their better halves for financial stability.
 
The Smart Money Woman tells the story of Zuri, a twenty eight year old returnee from abroad who earns a good income and who appears to be successful, until the day she realizes that she is over her head in debt. To make matters worse, she is in danger of being evicted from her serviced apartment in the upscale Lekki Phase One if her rent is not paid as at when due.

In desperation, Zuri begins to take stock of her assets and at that point encounters another shocker: her ‘assets’ consist of Chanel bags, Gucci shoes and the like. She has no concrete possessions that can be described as assets. What follows afterwards is an intriguing and charming tale that will leave readers wanting more long after they have finished reading the book.

Arese Ugwu

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THE BOOK

I love it. When the book first came out I wondered what all the fuss about the book was. After reading it, I knew why.

Some members of my family happen to be accountants and every once in a while I get lectures on money management and the like [and end up dozing off during many of the lectures; sorry bro.] However, Arese in this book has taken what would ordinarily have been a terribly boring lecture on money management and spun a tale around it such that the reader is inspired to take responsibility for their financial future.

Another thing I love about the book is its street credibility. Arese herself is also a returnee; however, the way she infuses some common Nigerian slangs into the dialogue of the main characters makes the book highly entertaining and believable. Rather than boring readers with stuffy grammar, Arese tries to keep the tale light even as she delivers hard punches on money management to the readers.

I think the only minus of the book is that it is not perfectly edited. There are about a couple of instances where some words are missing and the reader is left trying to fill in the gaps; but in spite of these I must say that the book is definitely worth having; and worth keeping. Hopefully, Arese will write other entertaining books like this in the future that will help people, especially women, become more financially savvy and prepared for whatever the future holds.