My Parents' Marriage
A Novel
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Acclaimed children’s author Nana Brew-Hammond makes her highly anticipated return with this soaring and profound story about love and understanding told through three generations of one Ghanian family.
Determined to avoid the pain and instability of her parents’ turbulent, confusing marriage, Kokui marries a man far different from her loving, philandering, self-made father—and tries to be a different kind of wife from her mother.
But when Kokui and her husband leave Ghana to make a new life for themselves in America, she finds history repeating itself. Her marriage failing, she is called home to Ghana when her father dies. Back in her childhood home, which feels both familiar and discomforting, she comes to realize that to exorcize the ghosts of her parents’ marriage she must confront them to enable her healing.
Tender and illuminating, warm and bittersweet My Parents’ Marriage is a compelling story of family, community, class, and self-identity from an author with deep empathy and a generous heart.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Children's author Brew-Hammond (Blue) makes her adult debut with the poignant story of a headstrong Ghanaian immigrant. Kokui was raised in the 1950s and '60s by her domineering father, Mawuli, after her mother left him for having multiple children with other women around town. Kokui hopes to eventually emigrate to America, but Mawuli expects her to take over the family paper mill. At age 23 in 1974, she marries fellow Ghanaian Boris, and the pair enroll at a college in Buffalo, N.Y. Before their departure, Kokui discovers that she's unexpectedly pregnant and has an abortion. She then joins Boris in New York City, where she works as a nanny to save money before the semester begins. That fall, Kokui learns her father has died in his sleep, and she returns alone for his funeral after a fight with Boris over the cost of the trip. Back in Ghana, she learns of squabbles among her father's other families over the estate, which build to a surprising revelation during the reading of his will. Though some of the plot points feel rushed, the author skillfully traces Kokui's complex family dynamics and her desire to achieve the American dream. This accomplished tale has plenty of grit and heart.
