Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Spotlight Post - His Only Wife; Peace Adzo Medie - First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros


Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews
Each week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book we are reading or plan to read.  

His Only Wife; Peace Adzo Medie
Algonquin Books - 2020

(Intro Paragraph)

One

"Elikem married me in absentia; he did not come to our wedding. The ceremony was held on the third Saturday in January in the rectangular courtyard of my Uncle Pious's house, which was bordered by two-roomed apartments and a wooden gate that opened onto a busy footpath.  Our relative, stirring with equal measures of happiness, but for different reasons, sitting opposite one another in rented plastic chairs that were neatly arranged in rows that filled the courtyard.  The partly walled kitchen had been scrubbed and cleared of the cast-iron coal pots, on which my uncle's wives prepared the evening meal, and the enamel basins that they used for washing and storing dishes.  My uncle's sitting-room chairs, upholstered with a carpet-like fabric and polished so that the chocolate-brown wooden frames glistened, were also brought outdoors and comprised the front row where the elders of each family would sit."

(I love the detail here and am curious for more.) What do you think?

Here's a description of the book:

Afi Tekple is a young seamstress in Ghana. She is smart; she is pretty; and she has been convinced by her mother to marry a man she does not know. Afi knows who he is, of course—Elikem is a wealthy businessman whose mother has chosen Afi in the hopes that she will distract him from his relationship with a woman his family claims is inappropriate. But Afi is not prepared for the shift her life takes when she is moved from her small hometown of Ho to live in Accra, Ghana’s gleaming capital, a place of wealth and sophistication where she has days of nothing to do but cook meals for a man who may or may not show up to eat them. She has agreed to this marriage in order to give her mother the financial security she desperately needs, and so she must see it through. Or maybe not?

His Only Wife is a witty, smart, and moving debut novel about a brave young woman traversing the minefield of modern life with its taboos and injustices, living in a world of men who want their wives to be beautiful, to be good cooks and mothers, to be women who respect their husbands and grant them forbearance. And in Afi, Peace Medie has created a delightfully spunky and relatable heroine who just may break all the rules.

About the Author


Peace Adzo Medie is a Ghanaian writer and senior lecturer in gender and international politics at the University of Bristol in England. Prior to that she was a research fellow at the University of Ghana. She has published several short stories, and her book Global Norms and Local Action: The Campaigns to End Violence Against Women in Africa was published by Oxford University Press in 2020. She is an award-winning scholar and has been awarded several fellowships. She holds a PhD in public and international affairs from the University of Pittsburgh and a BA in geography from the University of Ghana. She was born in Liberia.

22 comments:

  1. Wow, now I am very curious about how this one will turn out. Thanks for sharing, and for visiting my blog.

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  2. This sounds fascinating. I would certainly continue reading. In fact, I'm adding it to my list.

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    1. Oh good, I thought it sounded intriguing and I love reading about different customs and expectations as well.

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  3. The intro is very descriptive and paints the picture perfectly. It sounds like a really good book. I'll have to look for this one.

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  4. That sure sounds really good, I'd read more too.

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  5. oh I read this one last month and njoyed it!

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    1. Oh Jenn, I'm so happy you loved this one I love the sound of it.

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  6. One of my book clubs read this book. It's well written and provides a fascinating look into another culture. I hope you enjoy it.

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  7. Great to read this Catherine. It seems like a good discussion book.

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  8. I've heard good things about this one! I look forward to reading it.

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    1. From the intro I suspect I will enjoy this. Hope to start it later in the week.

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  9. I hope you enjoy, Diane. Interesting start.

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  10. Totally intrigued by this opening...would definitely keep reading.

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  11. Oh this sounds good! I love the voice in the intro and the premise has me seriously curious.

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  12. Oh, I hope she does break all the rules!

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