His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie

His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie

Peace Adzo Medie is a very impressive figure. She is an award winning scholar with a PhD in Public and International Affairs, and her book Global Norms and Local Actions: The Campaigns to End Violence Against Women in Africa was published by the Oxford University Press in 2020, which focuses on Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire. His Only Wife is Peace Adzo Medie's first novel and was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book as well as Reese's Book Clubs pick for October of 2020, but her second novel Nightbloom was released in 2023. His Only Wife deals with body shaming and bullying, emotional abuse, infidelity, pregnancy and injury, classism, and toxic relationships.

Afi Tekple is a seamstress in Ghana who lives with her mother, Olivia. Her mother convinces Afi to marry Elikem Ganyo, a wealthy man from a wealthy family. Eli's family wants him to settle down with a nice, quiet girl and although Afi hasn't met Eli, she doesn't feel like she can turn the offer down. After all, Olivia lives in a home paid for by Eli's mother, Olivia works for Eli's mother, on occasion, Eli's mother will gift Olivia with extra flour on lean months. Eli's mother runs this town, and now she wants Afi to marry her son and get him to fall in love with her. Eli has agreed to marry Afi but he has been ensnared by "that woman", who he has lived with for years and even has a daughter with, but who his family does not like. They convince Afi that all Eli needs is a good woman to make him see the light and what he's been missing all these years. So Afi moves to Accra, to a world of glitz and sophistication, in order to give her family financial stability. But can she put aside what she wants for her own life for the benefit of her family, and if she can...should she?

I'm not really sure what to make of this book. It was a very quick read and I never found myself bored. But the ending almost came as a shock, I couldn't believe it was already over, and looking back, it almost feels like nothing happened between the covers. I didn't dislike the book, and I appreciate the struggle of a young woman stuck between doing what is right for herself and what is right for her family, but that's about all that I can say. The plot was almost an after thought, there was so much meandering through situations and meeting of new people that did not mean anything at all in the end. Afi had next to no personality, which is more than her mother, any of her in-laws, or her husband had. In fact, the only person that made any impression was Afi's uncle, who is incredibly unlikeable. I didn't connect to any of the characters, and it didn't feel like the story had any depth to it. A quick book that has left me very unsatisfied, although I didn't realize it as I was reading it.

I'm giving His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie 3 stars out of 5. It would have scored lower if I had realized while I was reading how shallow the story was, but it was a sneaky sort of disappointment I've never really experienced before.

For more information about Peace Adzo Medie, see her website at https://www.peacemedie.com/

Pairs well with a bowl of groundnut soup and learning a straight stitch.