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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Hardwood Creek Library (Forest Lake) | FICTION MED | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Park Grove Library (Cottage Grove) | FICTION MED | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Stillwater Public Library | FICTION MED | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Wildwood Library (Mahtomedi) | FICTION MED | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB PICK
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR
A Time Magazine Must-Read Book of 2020
One of BuzzFeed's "29 Books We Couldn't Put Down This Year"
A Must-Read Novel: The New York Times Book Review * BuzzFeed * Marie Claire * Parade * Travel + Leisure * Ms. Magazine * Bustle * The Millions * Book Riot * Christian Science Monitor * HelloGiggles
"[A] mesmerizing debut novel."
-- The New York Times Book Review
"A story that kept me tied to the page, told in masterful, seamless prose."
--BuzzFeed
"I love this book so much I turned the pages so fast . . . It's all about the search for independence and being true to yourself and who you really are."
--Reese Witherspoon
Afi Tekple is a young seamstress in Ghana. She is smart; she is pretty; and she has been convinced by her mother to marry a man she does not know. Afi knows who he is, of course--Elikem is a wealthy businessman whose mother has chosen Afi in the hopes that she will distract him from his relationship with a woman his family claims is inappropriate. But Afi is not prepared for the shift her life takes when she is moved from her small hometown of Ho to live in Accra, Ghana's gleaming capital, a place of wealth and sophistication where she has days of nothing to do but cook meals for a man who may or may not show up to eat them. She has agreed to this marriage in order to give her mother the financial security she desperately needs, and so she must see it through. Or maybe not?
His Only Wife is a witty, smart, and moving debut novel about a brave young woman traversing the minefield of modern life with its taboos and injustices, living in a world of men who want their wives to be beautiful, to be good cooks and mothers, to be women who respect their husbands and grant them forbearance. And in Afi, Peace Medie has created a delightfully spunky and relatable heroine who just may break all the rules.
Author Notes
Peace Adzo Medie 's debut novel, His Only Wife , was a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice , a New York Times Notable Book of 2020, a Time magazine Must-Read Book of 2020, and a Reese's Book Club pick. Her book Global Norms and Local Action: The Campaigns to End Violence against Women in Africa was published by Oxford University Press in 2020. She has won numerous awards for her scholarship and has held several fellowships, including the Oxford-Princeton Global Leaders Fellowship. She holds a PhD in public and international affairs from the University of Pittsburgh and a BA in geography from the University of Ghana.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Medie's busy debut turns on a family drama caused by polygamy in Ghana. Afi Tekple, a seamstress living with her widowed mother in Ho in 2014, is surprised when wealthy matriarch Aunty Faustina Ganyo engineers a proposal to Afi from Faustina's son, Eli. Faustina hopes Afi can lure Eli away from Muna, Eli's de facto Liberian wife, whom the Ganyos disapprove of. Eli, busy with business travel, marries Afi in absentia and the Ganyos move Afi into an apartment in Accra. Afi, recognizing her role as "the key to other people's happiness," pursues her own fulfillment by using the Ganyo family connections to enroll in a prestigious fashion design program. Even after Afi becomes pregnant, Eli refuses to move her into his house and evict Muna, and the pain of sharing her husband with Muna and her responsibilities to the Ganyos pushes Afi to her breaking point. Afi's narration is driven by a series of episodes, from Afi insisting on learning to drive to selling her designs to the country's first lady, and while the relentless pacing leaves little room for reflection on her emotional turmoil, Medie succeeds at channeling Afi's desires and desperation. This stirring tale sings when Afi learns to flex her limited power. Agent: Kiele Raymond, Thompson Literary Agency (Sept.)
Kirkus Review
A Cinderella story set in Ghana. "I think I would have been less apprehensive if Eli himself had been present." Probably so, since this is Afi's wedding and Elikem is the groom, whom she has barely met. This delightful debut novel from Medie, who was born in Liberia, educated in Ghana and the U.S., and teaches at the University of Bristol in England, is anything but academic. As it begins, Afi--gorgeous, talented at sewing, dirt poor, and very country--is being married in a traditional ceremony to an absent young man whose wealthy and powerful family, the Ganyos, will do anything to separate him from his Liberian mistress. An aging woman known as Aunty is the Don Corleone of the clan, obeyed and feared by all--or almost all. Her selection of Afi as designated daughter-in-law immediately improves the desperate straits of Afi's widowed mother and a whole slew of other relatives, who begin receiving deliveries of rice and other supplies as part of her bride price. Eli's brother, Richard, sets Afi up in a fancy apartment in Accra and his sister Yaya helps her enroll in fashion design school. Now…if only Eli would show up. By the time he does, Afi is so lonely and miserable that she might have fallen in love with him even if he weren't incredibly good looking, generous, and sweet. Unfortunately, he is also completely unwilling to break things off with his other woman, who lives in his primary residence with their daughter. Medie subtly develops Afi's character as she--mentored by her brother-in-law's mistress, who lives down the hall--goes from being an innocent, awestruck village girl to a sophisticated, confident woman, accustomed to privilege and luxury, set on a creative career...and mad as hell. She gradually pieces together the scoop on her rival, who "moved to Ghana reluctantly, her cigarettes and booze clutched in one hand and her baby in the other" and now has Eli so wrapped around her little finger that she takes off on a solo vacation to Spain while he's out of town on business. Afi deserves better. This is war. A Crazy Rich Asians for West Africa, with a healthy splash of feminism. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Afi Tekple has her focus on mastering her skills as a seamstress in a small town in Ghana, where she is happy with a simple life. She lives with her widowed mother who one day proposes an arranged marriage to a wealthy man named Elikem Ganyo, who is too busy to attend their eventual wedding and sends his brother in as a stand-in. The Ganyo family convinces Afi that the woman Elikem is currently dating has a wicked hold on him, and marriage to Afi will help bring him back around. After she moves to Accra to live in the flat provided by Elikem, Afi learns that the situation is more complicated than the family initially led on. In her debut novel, Medie writes with a precise rhythm that builds the reader's anticipation. Themes like deception, ambition, love, and values drench the pages with conflict that evolves into an emotional rollercoaster. Essentially, Afi's fight for love leads her down the path of boundary-setting and living life on her own terms.
