Nightbloom
LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024
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- CHF 9.00
Publisher Description
'Remarkable' Chika Unigwe, author of On Black Sisters' Street
AKORFA AND SELASI WERE ONCE INSEPARABLE. NOW, THEY MUST REPAIR THEIR BROKEN RELATIONSHIP OR LOSE EACH OTHER FOREVER.
Growing up in the same small Ghanaian town, Selasi and Akorfa were more than just cousins, they were best friends. The girls shared everything: their dreams, their desires, their every secret. But as they enter their teens Selasi begins to change, until Akorfa barely recognises the sullen, withdrawn girl she once knew so well.
Years go by before they cross paths again, and their lives look very different now. Although they are separated by continents, they have each found success in their careers: Akorfa works in international development in the US; Selasi is a restaurateur running the hottest spot in Accra. It takes a crisis to pull them back together, forcing both women to confront shocking secrets and childhood trauma that neither one has been willing to address. Now they must bridge the gulf between them to stop history repeating itself.
From the author of Reese's Book Club pick His Only Wife, Nightbloom is a powerful story about female friendship, the relationships that shape us and the people we never quite leave behind.
'A blistering story, written with razor sharp precision.' Huma Qureshi, author of Things We Do Not Tell the People We Love
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Medie (His Only Wife) focuses on the complex relationship between two Ghanaian women in this poignant outing. Akorfa and her cousin Selasi were best friends as children, but a rift develops after they begin boarding school, where Akorfa benefits from her family's support, including private tutors. Eventually, she leaves for the University of Pittsburgh, where she experiences various episodes of racism, beginning when her roommate's parents automatically assume she's there on a scholarship. After graduation, she lands a job at an NGO in Washington, D.C., marries a cardiologist, and has children. The second part tells Selasi's story, detailing her struggles after her mother died and her father abandoned her. When she is sent to live with Akorfa's family, Akorfa's mother treats Selasi like a servant and Akorfa turns a blind eye. After boarding school, Selasi becomes a successful restaurateur in Ghana and marries a politician. Medie unfurls major revelations in the third part, when Selasi and Akorfa reunite in Ghana and learn they were each similarly traumatized as children, prompting them to reexamine their long-held bitterness toward each other. Though there's a bit too much exposition, Medie keenly explores the nuances of the women's friendship and their misplaced blame. This is worth a look.
