The Only Son is the debut novel of Nigerian author John Munonye. The novel was first published in 1966 as part of the Heinemann African Writers Series.[1] The novel follows an Igbo widow as she raises her son, Nnanna, who is educated at a Western school.
The tension between the mother and her son occupies much of the novel.[2] The novel, like many of Munonye's other novels, follows the struggle of Nnanna to deal with the expectations placed on him by the rest of the community.[3]