His Only Wife: A Reese's Book Club Pick - 'Bursting with warmth, humour, and richly drawn characters'

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Afi and Eli had lunch at a hotel after he showed up to her school one day. Eli said that he wanted to be with her and was working on making that happen. They shared their first kiss and Afi was excited, looking forward to life with her new husband. With spot-on characterizations of deeply involved extended families and realistic depictions of how money can change everything, Peace Adzo Medie conjures a Cinderella story just right for 2020.” In her sparkling debut novel, Ghanaian writer and academic Peace Adzo Medie uses humor, candor and feminism to examine womanhood, marriage and agency in modern Ghana.” Escaping from an abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the most highly requested henna artist—and confidante—to the wealthy women of the upper class. But trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own…

Afi Tekpl is a 21-year-old seamstress living in a small town in Ghana with her mother. After the death of her father, everything up under her was ripped away. Until the Ganyo's arrange a marriage for her that changes her whole life. The one problem? The man she is to marry is with another woman that the Ganyo's believe is tearing their relationship with their son Eli apart. The Ganyo's tell Afi and her mother that the other woman is ugly, muscular, an alcoholic, and an unfit mom. Combining heart and humor with a hearty dose of feminism, Peace Adzo Medie’s debut is an illuminating and empowering read with a heroine you will remember for a long time." Phewww okay this ending had me fuming! I mean granted, the Ganyo family drove me crazy throughout this whole book, BUT THE ENDING?? I would’ve allowed Afi to be acquitted from murder, but I guess it was happy for her nonetheless.Afi is married into the Ganyo family for two reasons: 1: Aunty G has been 'generous' (quotes because she did everything quid pro quo—the other party just wouldn’t know) with Afi and her mother a majority of her life since her father passed away and 2: the family wanted to get rid of Muna, Eli’s first wife. Afi does not have much. Her father is dead, her mother struggles to support her, her large extended family neglects her, and she is not gifted enough at schoolwork to get into a university. What she does have is her good looks, a good upbringing, and a talent for sewing and design. She is married to the son of her mother's wealthy benefactor, a marriage in absentia, but the marriage is just another move in the ongoing battle between Eli and his family. Eli loves a woman his family will not accept, and the marriage is their power move to get him to leave the other woman once and for all. This is a novel where details about clothing and food fill almost every scene. As always when I read novels set in countries that are unfamiliar, I ended up searching out images of kente cloth ( a highly colourful textile made from strips of silk and cotton with handwoven cloth) and Slit (a long fitted skirt which hugs the body) and the top called a Kaba. The combinations of patterns and colours are stunning. If only the rest of the book had been as fascinating as the setting. I feel guilty about saying that because Medie writes very well, in a flowing style that is easy to read, full of colour but mercifully light on adjectives and linguistic flourishes. I have a feeling if she keeps up this standard, she’ll enjoy a solid fan base in coming years.

Whilst Afi is excited by the prospect of her new life, the reality of marrying into a wealthy family like the Ganyos soon uncovers a twisted, manipulative and “NOW WHY AM I IN IT?” (word to Nene Leaks) truth that is sure to leave you wanting to slap people for their madness. While Eli and Muna’s relationship is the most obvious source of Afi’s strife, it wasn’t handled well enough to become the most *compelling* tension in this story (more on that later.) For me, that prize goes to Afi’s internal tension between her familial duty and her personal wellbeing. This book does a great job of sinking you deep into the oppressive notions of womanhood and “wifeliness” that are placed upon Afi from the onset of her marriage. These expectations expose the simultaneous beauty and burden of family, which can be both comforting (such as Afi’s relationship with her cousin Mawusi) and a source of intense strife (such as the relationship with her uncle Pious.) Afi is expected to uphold these many familial relationships while also joining the Ganyo family, where she is tasked with ensuring that her husband leaves his mistress. This is partially due to a “debt” Afi and her mother are alleged to owe Eli Ganyo’s mother, a woman who provided shelter and work for them when they were in need. This financial manipulation impacts Afi’s relationship with her own mother, who often cowers under the power dynamic she has been subjugated to since her husband’s death. Afi’s mother’s ingrained sense of fealty to Eli’s mother leads her to heap significant expectations on her daughter to be the perfect wife to an imaginary husband. The book is most cathartic in the moments when Afi gathers the courage to put herself before her societal obligations, many of which are unfair to her and the less fortunate women in this story (such as Muna.) Young Afi Tekple's life is about to change. She is given an opportunity of a lifetime - to receive a proposal of marriage to one of the wealthiest families in their small town. Aunty Faustina Ganyo has helped Afi and her widowed mother Olivia, so when this opportunity arose to marry Aunty's son Elikem, Afi could not refuse such an offer. Though she has never met him, she knows this will help her family greatly.

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Bottom line: I could say something about the clear and straightforward writing style, or how this somehow felt both too long and too short, or probably a bunch of other stuff, but what it comes down to is I'm nosy. This post is for those who’ve been finding it difficult to read as of late; I’m not entirely sure what’s in the air, but whatever is floating around isn’t conducive to getting through a book.