Your Excellencies, Your Royal Highnesses, distinguished special guests, ladies and gentlemen, and members of the press present here today, I pay my respects to you all.
I especially congratulate the author, Hajia Hannatu Bamali, for this exceptional debut work of advocacy being presented here today, the 14th of May, at Destination by Gidanka.
My name is Salamatu Sule, and I am deeply honored to stand before you today to present my review of this remarkable work titled Perimenopause Explained Simply, written by the phenomenal and amiable Hannatu Bamali, whose steadfast advocacy for women and children continues to leave an indelible mark of impact.
What does it mean to be silent and silenced?
These are deadly viruses that kills its victim very slowly… we shouldn’t go there…
This book is not merely a publication to adorn shelves; it is a work of intervention aimed at breaking the silence that has consumed many women for far too long. It is a testament to the author’s passionate commitment to amplifying the voices of women who, for generations, have been misunderstood, misdiagnosed, dismissed, and silenced because of their biological realities. It is written to bridge the glaring gaps in public knowledge and to call attention to the urgent need for more open and clinical conversations surrounding women’s health. Women’s health, I dare say, remains one of the most under-researched and least-discussed subjects globally.
It is against this background that I have succinctly titled my review “Breaking the Silence,” because it captures the very heartbeat of this body of work. Through Perimenopause Explained Simply, Bamalli confronts a subject many women endure quietly, yet one that few societies openly discuss.
The cover design has this beautiful colour pallets of a crimson red, Charcoal Olive giving us a dark taupe, with burnt orange and tangerine. Looking deeper you are likely to see Chestnut Brown with a dusty blush pink and Muted Mauve with a touch of Salmon Peach, a vivid and scarlet red as well as deep burgundy or wine red.
These pallet blends helped to radiate warmth and reflects the silhouettes of women who could be our mothers, sisters, aunties, friends, and colleagues — who are battling hot flashes, anxiety, palpitations, irritability, and many other discomforting experiences that often make them feel abnormal, while the people around them neither understand nor know how to help.
This eight-chapter book is written in a simple yet original narrative style that makes every flip of the page compelling. It opens a door for every woman to sit comfortably within its pages and say, “Yes, I think this is me here.” The book contains references, quotes, and insights drawn from global perspectives, traditional realities, and anonymous lived experiences that were carefully documented.
Right from the introduction, the author clarifies that the aim of the book is not to provide medical prescriptions or clinical solutions. Rather, she seeks to create access to information through the lived experiences of women, beginning with her own personal journey and supported by desk research on global responses to perimenopause.
“Having said all this I will also say that am not a medical doctor and this isn’t a scientific approach to perimenopause. No, this is a layman approach. Something akin to Perimenopause explained for Dummies. Lol” HB -PES-Pg4
But I dare to say that the author has done far more than to merely to inform. A gift of a weapon of knowledge!
Knowledge that reassures women that they are not alone, and knowledge that can dismantle fear, stigma, shame, and silence. This book will empower families, communities, and even institutions to better understand the realities women face during this important phase of life called perimenopause — and not reduce women to victims of superstition, witch-hunting, spiritual accusations, assault in the name of deliverance, or abandonment by spouses who should be confidants and cheerleaders.
What makes this book exceptional is its authorial honesty and simplicity. Bamalli writes not from the distant pedestal of theory, but from the raw and intimate space of shared humanity. She transforms what is often treated as a whispered conversation into a bold and necessary dialogue. In doing so, she validates experiences many women have struggled to explain for years.
Only recently have doctors and researchers begun to pay serious attention to perimenopause, while many men still do not “pause” long enough to reflect before rushing into divorce, emotional withdrawal, or seeking another partner who may eventually experience the same realities.
Three important classes of women that occupy the room of this book:
– those approaching their thirties and still unmarried, leading to fear that can trigger their blood preasure.
– those in their forties already dealing with close to 30 shades transitions caused by hormonal changes,
– and younger women trying to understand why their mothers or aunties are suddenly changing emotionally and physically.
And what about the men who struggle to understand the women in their lives, whose patience may already be wearing thin
This book is especially for you too. This book is both a plea for empathy and a call for self-care. The author shares several practical self-care routines that have helped her and many other women navigate this phase of life. I believe these may well have been some of the coping mechanisms our ancient mothers practiced, had their own stories and realities been properly documented.
While my duty here today is not to bore you with every detail within the universe of this book, I want to urge everyone present to become stakeholders in carrying this important material to the reading public.
Let us empower women across institutions and all walks of life — in schools, health institutions, public spaces, community libraries, homes, friendships, and families — by saying: here is a book that explains, in simple terms, that perimenopause is not a curse, but a transition that is part of womanhood. Let it be what makes the man appreciate his wife more for her enduranceDo not fail to get as many copies as you can — to read, to gift, and to pass on the knowledge
Congratulations once again.
Thank you for listening…
- Salamatu Sule is a Literary Agent and Book Reviewer. She lives in Abuja.
