The Joys of Motherhood is a novel by Buchi Emecheta about the lives of African women and the themes of fertility and tradition. After being injured during an elephant hunt, the chief Nwokocha Agbadi has a daughter with his favorite wife, Ona. The daughter, Nnu Ego, grows up but is barren. After numerous attempts to conceive a child and after one child dies, she gives birth to four children. She takes care of her children, sending them off to study, and eventually dies alone.