“Elikem married me in absentia; he did not come to our wedding.”
That was the first sentence of the book. I should have known it would be a book that sent me through every emotion possible, anger being the most prevalent.
Afi is a seamstress who comes from quite a large family, and she doesn’t have many prospects of elevating in life. That is until the mother of Elikem Ganyo plans for Afi to marry him in hopes he will leave the woman he is currently in a relationship with. As you can tell from the first sentence of the book, Elikem doesn’t even bother to show up to his own wedding. I wonder how this will all turn out? Afi moves to a fancy flat in Accra, but finds out this is not the house her husband uses as his primary residence. His family keeps telling her what she needs to do in order to get her husband to have only her. There’s so many twists and turns! I truly felt for Afi being thrown into such dysfunction without really having a choice.
Afi is a woman that is brave, strong-willed, independent, and most importantly relatable. She helped make this book illuminate what it means to be a woman in a world that is rapidly changing. She learns to adapt and handle life as it is thrown at her. This was ultimately a wonderful debut novel.
“His Only Wife” by Peace Adzo Medie: 4 stars
Librarian Life 