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A review by helen_t_reads
Nightbloom by Peace Adzo Medie
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Growing up in the same small Ghanaian town, Selasi and Akorfa were more than just cousins, they were best friends. The girls shared everything: their dreams, their desires, their every secret. But as they enter their teens Selasi begins to change, until Akorfa barely recognises the sullen, withdrawn girl she once knew so well.
Years go by before they cross paths again, and their lives look very different now. Although they are separated by continents, they have each found success in their careers: Akorfa works in international development in the US; Selasi is a restaurateur running the hottest spot in Accra. It takes a crisis to pull them back together, forcing both women to confront shocking secrets and childhood trauma that neither one has been willing to address. Now they must bridge the gulf between them to stop history repeating itself.
The novel is narrated first by Akorfa and then by Selasi, each telling the stories of their lives from childhood to adulthood. Akorfa's is a life of privilege, whilst Selasi has nothing but loss and challenge. Both build successful careers and find loving husbands who are equally successful.
The author draws the characters of Akorfa and Selasi - two strong women - really well, and there is good character development. The change in narrator from Akorfa to Selasi also allows the reader a very different perspective on the same events, reminding us that we cannot rely on just one. There are two sides to every story.
This is a novel about two women on very different paths, giving two different versions of a single, shared history: history that includes childhood trauma, personal struggle, toxic masculinity, the institutional racism of America, or the failed and corrupt government of Ghana. (Both states are shown to be problematic and dysfunctional, but in different ways).
It's also a story about friendship and estrangement; about the relationships and communities that shape us; and about the ripple effect of the choices that people make because of fear, and societal, community and familial pressures, and patriarchal power.
It's thought-provoking book which offers fascinating insights into both Ghanaian life, and the Black experience in America, featuring two memorably strong Black women.
Years go by before they cross paths again, and their lives look very different now. Although they are separated by continents, they have each found success in their careers: Akorfa works in international development in the US; Selasi is a restaurateur running the hottest spot in Accra. It takes a crisis to pull them back together, forcing both women to confront shocking secrets and childhood trauma that neither one has been willing to address. Now they must bridge the gulf between them to stop history repeating itself.
The novel is narrated first by Akorfa and then by Selasi, each telling the stories of their lives from childhood to adulthood. Akorfa's is a life of privilege, whilst Selasi has nothing but loss and challenge. Both build successful careers and find loving husbands who are equally successful.
The author draws the characters of Akorfa and Selasi - two strong women - really well, and there is good character development. The change in narrator from Akorfa to Selasi also allows the reader a very different perspective on the same events, reminding us that we cannot rely on just one. There are two sides to every story.
This is a novel about two women on very different paths, giving two different versions of a single, shared history: history that includes childhood trauma, personal struggle, toxic masculinity, the institutional racism of America, or the failed and corrupt government of Ghana. (Both states are shown to be problematic and dysfunctional, but in different ways).
It's also a story about friendship and estrangement; about the relationships and communities that shape us; and about the ripple effect of the choices that people make because of fear, and societal, community and familial pressures, and patriarchal power.
It's thought-provoking book which offers fascinating insights into both Ghanaian life, and the Black experience in America, featuring two memorably strong Black women.