Book Review

His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie #BookReview #OneworldPublications #NetGalley #5*

‘Elikem married me in absentia; he did not come to our wedding.’

Afi Tekple is a young seamstress living in a small town in Ghana with her widowed mother. Afi’s future doesn’t seem to hold much excitement. Until, that is, she is offered a life-changing opportunity – a proposal of marriage from the wealthy family of Elikem Ganyo.

She barely knows Elikem, but that seems a small price to pay for a marriage that could offer her family financial security, as well as the key to the glitzy city lifestyle she’s always wanted. But when Afi arrives in Accra, she realises that her fairy-tale ending might not be all that she’d hoped for. Now she must balance the often conflicting roles of wife, daughter, niece and sister-in-law, without losing sight of herself. 

Bursting with warmth and humour, His Only Wife is a witty, smart and moving comedy-of-manners about the search for independence, and the rules that might have to be broken along the way.  

Vivid & Vivacious!

A gorgeous story with everything going for it!

Afi is seventeen and lives with her mother; both working, they scrape a living but still depend on the kindness of others. When she is given the opportunity to marry into a wealthy family, offering the end of all their worries. Elikem Ganyo is a very eligible bachelor and marriage will give Afi access to all the things she has always dreamed of – however, all that glitters is not gold as she is about to find out.

Oh, where do I start with this one? A truly captivating read which pulled me in from the first words, this is a carefully thought out story with lots of fun, laughter and angst along the way. To the outsider, Afi’s new life is what every young girl desires but, behind the scenes, there are a lot of highs and lows. Painted with a light touch, the characters are appealing, entertaining and vivid. I loved everything about it and by the end everything was neatly explained and tidied away – just as I like it. A fabulous read which I’m delighted to recommend and give a full house of stars. Peace Adzo Medie is definitely an author to keep an eye on!

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley; this is – as always – my honest, original and unbiased review.

Tags: women’s literary fiction

Author Details

Peace Adzo Medie is a scholar and writer. She is Senior Lecturer in Gender and International Politics at the University of Bristol. Her research addresses gender, politics, and conflict in Africa. Her book, Global Norms and Local Action: The Campaigns to End Violence against Women in Africa, was published in March 2020 by Oxford University Press. Her debut novel, His Only Wife, was published in September 2020 by Algonquin Books. It was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, a New York Times Notable Book of 2020, and a Time Magazine Must-Read Book of 2020. 
 
Medie’s research has been supported by grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, and the Social Science Research Council, and her findings have been published in African Affairs, International Studies Review, Politics & Gender, and the European Journal of Politics and Gender. Her work has won several awards, including the 2019 Best Article Award of the European Journal of Politics and Gender. Her short stories have appeared in Slice Magazine, Transition, Four Way Review, and elsewhere. 
 
She is a co-editor of African Affairs, the top-ranked African studies journal, and of the Oxford Studies in African Politics and International Relations book series. She is also a Research Fellow at LECIAD, University of Ghana, and a 2015 – 2017  Oxford-Princeton Global Leaders Fellow. 
 
Medie earned a BA in Geography from the University of Ghana, an MA in International Studies from Ohio University, and a PhD in Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh. She attended OLA Secondary School, Ho, and was born in Liberia. 

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