Abstract: For over a decade, attempts have been made by African writers and scholars to situate the import of culture in literature as a medium for reorientation and change in Africa. Objectively, this connection is uneasily recognized. Yet, literature and culture offer a viable instrument for socio-cultural change, unity and sustainability in Africa. Bearing this in mind, the paper adopts the comparative literary approach in its identification and exploration of cultural features in the family lives and marriages of two African rural communities, highlighted in the novels - The Stillborn by Zaynab Alkali and Trois Pretendant…Un Mari, translated into English as Three Suitors … A Husband by Mbia Oyono. It is evident that patriarchal customs and practices of polygamy, marriage subjugation, male supremacy, domination of women impel positive cultural relationships in families as well as marriages, especially amongst women. Consequently, education, freedom of speech and expression, positive self affirmation are advocated as avenues for achieving social change and reorientation.