Reviews with content warning for Adult/minor relationship - His Only Wife

This was phenomenal book.

In contemporary Ghana, Afi lives in a small town where after her father's death ten years earlier they survive on the generosity of Aunty Ganyo (the rich non related head of business in their community), but everything changes when Aunty arranges for Afi to marry her son Eli in order take him from a relationship with a woman she dislikes. It is a story that subtly grew on me until by the end I was in love. Afi begins the novel as a twenty-one year old who is attempting to make a living as a seamstress and is thrust into a life where her future is dependent on winning back a man she has only known by appearance and who has a stand in at their wedding. She cooks, cleans and pretends to be a virgin and fulfil the proper image of a traditional wife, but throughout the novel she becomes more fully herself.

I love that Medie never makes any morality checks, we live in Afi's head and in her mindset. We don't spend any time denouncing co-wives or the limitations of gender norms but instead she allows the book to speak for herself. We see the progress naturally and without any commentary or sharp moments instead Afi acts in the way she understands and feels. And that is powerful. I don't want to say too much because I think it is a story you should read for yourself. But I appreciate that the ending isn't a cookie cutter simple answer. Instead we see that sometimes the answer is a hard one.

Medie is an editor, journalist and scholar and writes on Gender and Politics and I already have her curated list of research and journals queued up to read.

Content Warnings

abookandaspotoftea's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

zombiezami's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I picked this book because I saw it was narrated by the same narrator of another book I enjoyed. I was on the waiting list for a few weeks at my library, so this made me think this book had a lot of hype. In reality, it was very uncomfortable to listen to. There was a ton of gaslighting of the main character, to an unrelenting level sometimes. And the ending

was very anti-climactic to me. I am glad that the protagonist learned to value herself and decided to end the relationship, but it was just uncomfortable to me.

Content Warnings

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