His Only Wife

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And if you're looking for a 100% HEA to this Ghanaian "romance," you won't find it, but the ending is understandable and satisfactory.

By detailing how both relationships had positive components, we could see more clearly what *could have been* healthy relationships on either side. Afi’s task as the new (traditionally-wed, family-approved) wife is to divert Eli’s attentions from the “Jezebel” who’s stolen him away from his family. The process of Afi realizing Eli could never give her what she wanted in a relationship could have easily been twelve chapters, especially as she shares this revelation with her family members.The dramas of Afi's marriage and various family conflicts offer an entertaining plot rich with humor, but it is the story of the strong woman in a challenging and changing world that will capture readers' hearts. I was a little uncomfortable that Medie presents legal marriage and monogamy as the only viable option, with Afi coming to disparage the village ceremony she had and wanting the fairy tale proposal in Paris and church wedding instead.

When Afi moves to Accra she realises this will not be a quick process – she is moved into a luxury flat (next door she later finds to Richard’s mistress Evelyn) and everything is put at her disposal (an allowance, a driver, enrolment in a fashionable textile design school) – everything but Eli who is still living with the other woman (Muna) in his house. Peace Adzo Medie’s debut novel, His Only Wife, was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, a New York Times Notable Book of 2020, and a Time Magazine Must-Read Book of 2020. Afi is a girl on a mission and on her way to succeed she makes many friends and learns many things about herself and the world around her.

Not to say that she didn’t work hard, just that such success surely doesn’t come so quickly and easily even to people who work hard. Like this story, the ending was more bittersweet than fascinating, but both feature protagonists who are allowed to be flawed, complete women on their own terms, even when they are unlikable or difficult. Her mother and herself have existed on the edges of poverty, clinging to the good graces of their extended family and of Aunty, the rich benefactor of the community. The descriptions of contemporary Ghanaian life and African Aunties and Uncles was absolutely spot on. It didn't really make sense to me as she was built up as knowing the situation beforehand and so, I’m not quite sure what her endgame or expectations were but as a reader, it didn’t feel realistic to me.