A review by serendipitysbooks
Maame by Jessica George

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

 Maame is the coming of age story of Maddie, a 25 year old British woman of Ghanaian heritage. When the novel opens she works full time in a job where she is undervalued, and is living at home caring for her father who has advanced Parkinson’s disease. Her mother spends a lot of her life in Ghana while her brother enjoys a life of relative freedom. If anything needs doing or anyone needs money Maddie is the person they all look too. But then she loses her job, a tragedy strikes the family, and her mother returns to England all of which cause Maddie to reassess her life. She becomes more assertive about what she wants and needs, moves into a flat, gains a new job and a relationship. Not all of this goes smoothly but over the course of the novel Maddie really learns more about herself and others, and takes steps to live a life which fulfills her.

I loved Maddie as a character. She may have lacked confidence but so often it is hard to know what the best course of action is - as the results of all her Google searches showed! Maddie was never incompetent, self- destructive or self-sabotaging; more just guilty of taking on too much and not standing up for herself in order to do the right and kind thing for others. She didn’t have a large friend group but I loved the way the friends she did have had her back. Basically she was a delightful character who deserved good things in her life, and by the end of the novel it was clear she was well on her way to getting those things, including a more honest, more equitable relationship with her 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism