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

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Now, for my less profane thoughts: His Only Wife is an enthralling story about two Ghanian families, one love triangle, and the people and places caught in between them. After a wedding sans the groom, Afi moves from her small Ghanian town to Accra, where she is put up in a ritzy condo and carefully looked after. Weeks elapse before Afi meets Elikem in person. In the meantime, Afi uses her newfound connections to enroll in a design school. But I didn't care much about the characters. You'd think that should make a difference, because who wants juicy details about the lives of people they don't know or take interest in? Library Journal Best Fiction Book of 2020. Reese Witherspoon Book Club choice. New York Times Notable Book Of The Year. Time Magazine Must-Read Book of 2020. The impressive list of accolades for His Only Wife suggest that Peace Ado Medie’s debut novel is a dazzling work of fiction from a bright new talent.

When Afi did not qualify to attend a public university, her mother wanted to take a loan, so she could attend a private university. Afi would not hear of it. She apprenticed in a sewing shop and then got work as a local seamstress. Aunty gave her an electric sewing machine as a gift. Both Afi and her mother saw Aunty as a blessing and someone they owed a lot to. But like most things, their seemingly perfect marriage is not what it seems. When Afi finally finds her voice and stands up for herself, I cheered! I was completely engrossed in her story. This story does so much to develop characters and describe the culture.

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In His Only Wife , Medie takes the idea of an arranged marriage and gives it a fresh twist. Instead of the usual scenario where the bride is forced to marry an older, gross, brute of a man (in the vein of The Girl With The Louding Voice), here we have a beautiful, but poor, young woman persuaded to marry the attractive, wealthy business man, Elikem Ganyo. Afi Tekple barely knows Elikem but the marriage will make her family financially secure and give her entry to the glitzy lifestyle she has dreamed of achieving.

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. Her character development is kind of rushed. At the end she finally seems to get her act together, but by then I was no longer enjoying her narrative. 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.” A modern tale of one woman discovering her own sense of purpose in Ghana amidst family drama, expectations, and marriage. I'm not one who automatically goes for domestic stories, so extremely pleased to say that this was such a fantastic read.I’m quite a fussy reader who doesn’t shy away from critique – especially when it comes to popular books – so I sat down to read 𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙊𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙒𝙞𝙛𝙚 with little-no expectations, and I can admit that I was pleasantly surprised lol. I was enamoured with this book from the beginning. I LOVE books that are set in Ghana and I have such an affinity for Ghana’s culture, I wanted to inhale this book. I felt the premise was strong and the execution equally as strong. I loved that it was contemporary Ghana and a love story. The writer did such a great job of taking us in to the marriage of Eli and Afi and I didn’t want to leave. Afi does eventually move into the house but the relationship goes through ups and downs. However, they eventually get into a routine—until she is face to face with the other woman. What are some of the key ways that Eli showed he was more committed to other woman? Eli’s family pushed this marriage because they disapproved of Eli’s girlfriend, who he has a child with. They tell Afi all these lies about the woman that turn out not to be true. Why do you think the family was so against the other woman? Do you think they assumed Afi was easy to manipulate? I also was conflicted by how they, Afi & Eli, fell in "love" — what passes for love? I feel if Afi was even a stitch as logical as Evelyn, she would have been happier.

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.” Still, Medie does touch upon relevant issues, such the impact and pressure exerted by family and social expectations, and emphasising the double standards in marriage throughout the course of her narrative. Medie also depicts the sexist attitudes of those in Afi and the Ganyos' circle (a friend of husband says this: “man wasn’t made to be with one woman. You’re a lion, you should have an entire pride!” and I saw red).

But there’s one thing missing from this fairy tale – the husband. Elikem Ganyo misses his own wedding (sending his brother as stand in) and only makes an appearance in the apartment six weeks after the wedding. Elikem, it turns out, is in love with another woman and they have a daughter. Afi was the ploy used by his disapproving family to break this entanglement. The question is whether Afi will settle for playing second fiddle or insist that she is Elikem’s only true wife. A few days before the trip, Eli said he was going to Nigeria on business. Evelyn had an ad agency and was planning the second school for Afi’s business at a beach house. The shoot was supposed to happen after the trip, but Evelyn moved up the timeline to make use of a space that she said was available due to a shoot being canceled at the last minute. Shaking Everything Up I'm giving this a three because the middle section of the story was a bit of a slog. I loved the set-up and the many faux-pas Afi committed in her rags-to-riches journey (such as the uncertainty a buffet of unfamiliar foods might bring and throwing her weight around with the help to assert authority) and I thought the ending was an interesting twist and subversion of the usual OW plot, but the middle section definitely lost steam a bit along the way and I did find myself skimming a bit. It's still a really interesting story and I loved the Ghanaian setting and domestic drama elements of it. Both Evelyn and Mawusi had told her to wait and not push Eli, but they celebrated her success with her. Eli took her to social events with him and introduced her to his friends. Birthing New Life