Peace Adzo Medie: His Only Wife

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“Elikem married me in absentia; he did not come to our wedding."is how Peace Adzo Medie introduces us to Afi and Elikem in her acclaimed debut His Only Wife. A Reese Witherspoon and Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick. This book os also a New York Notable Book of the year. EBased in Ghana, the story is centred on the life of Afi Tekple, a young seamstress. We meet her having been convinced by her family to marry a man she does not know. She knows of him since he is a wealthy businessman whose mother has chosen her as a way to end his ill relationship with a woman his family deems unsuitable. Afi is an intelligent and tenacious young woman and despite all of these qualities still feels that she has to endure a difficult and unhappy marriage in order to ‘secure the bag’In this deceptively simple novel, Medie challenges us to explore the difficulties of modern life for a young woman traversing social and financial inequalities, patriarchal norms and the innate desire for companionship. Peace Adzo Medie sat with us in this delightful conversation exploring Ati’s world and all those who live in it.

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