Staff Pick
Stay With Me is a beautifully rendered novel about the disintegration of a marriage; loss and grief; and the dichotomy of living both a traditional and modern life in Nigeria. Ayobami Adebayo follows in the footsteps of the great storytellers of Nigeria like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Chinua Achebe, who focus on multifaceted characters grappling with a changing Nigeria. Adebayo's two protagonists and narrators, Akin and Yejide, husband and wife, reflect on a turbulent marriage filled with both love and grief. Complex and flawed — as all humans — I found myself rooting for peace and happiness in their lives. Aptly titled, these characters stayed with me. Recommended By Kate L., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
In the spirit of Chris Cleave's Little Bee and Emma Donoghue's Room, this unforgettable novel set in Nigeria gives voice to both husband and wife as they tell the story of their marriage--and the forces that threaten to tear it apart.
Yejide and Akin have been married since they met and fell in love at university. Though many expected Akin to take several wives, he and Yejide have always agreed: polygamy is not for them. But four years into their marriage--after consulting fertility doctors and healers, trying strange teas and unlikely cures--Yejide is still not pregnant. She assumes she still has time--until her family arrives on her doorstep with a young woman they introduce as Akin's second wife. Furious, shocked, and livid with jealousy, Yejide knows the only way to save her marriage is to get pregnant. Which, finally, she does--but at a cost far greater than she could have dared to imagine. An electrifying novel of enormous emotional power, Stay With Me asks how much we can sacrifice for the sake of family.
Synopsis
This celebrated, unforgettable first novel ("A bright, big-hearted demonstration of female spirit." -The Guardian), shortlisted for the prestigious Bailey's Prize and set in Nigeria, gives voice to both husband and wife as they tell the story of their marriage--and the forces that threaten to tear it apart. Yejide and Akin have been married since they met and fell in love at university. Though many expected Akin to take several wives, he and Yejide have always agreed: polygamy is not for them. But four years into their marriage--after consulting fertility doctors and healers, trying strange teas and unlikely cures--Yejide is still not pregnant. She assumes she still has time--until her family arrives on her doorstep with a young woman they introduce as Akin's second wife. Furious, shocked, and livid with jealousy, Yejide knows the only way to save her marriage is to get pregnant. Which, finally, she does--but at a cost far greater than she could have dared to imagine. An electrifying novel of enormous emotional power, Stay With Me asks how much we can sacrifice for the sake of family.
Synopsis
"A stunning debut novel." --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times This celebrated, unforgettable first novel ("A bright, big-hearted demonstration of female spirit." -The Guardian), shortlisted for the prestigious Bailey's Prize and set in Nigeria, gives voice to both husband and wife as they tell the story of their marriage--and the forces that threaten to tear it apart.
Yejide and Akin have been married since they met and fell in love at university. Though many expected Akin to take several wives, he and Yejide have always agreed: polygamy is not for them. But four years into their marriage--after consulting fertility doctors and healers, trying strange teas and unlikely cures--Yejide is still not pregnant. She assumes she still has time--until her family arrives on her doorstep with a young woman they introduce as Akin's second wife. Furious, shocked, and livid with jealousy, Yejide knows the only way to save her marriage is to get pregnant. Which, finally, she does--but at a cost far greater than she could have dared to imagine. An electrifying novel of enormous emotional power, Stay With Me asks how much we can sacrifice for the sake of family.
Ayobami Adebayo on PowellsBooks.Blog
I used to think that most published writers, the ones I admired, had a muse, or a special connection to the universe, to nature, or to aliens — something inaccessible to me that caused their prose to flow onto the page, already perfect...
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