Maame
A Today Show Read With Jenna Book Club Pick
-
-
4.3 • 410 Ratings
-
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! • A Today Show #ReadWithJenna Book Club Pick • A February 2023 Indie Next Pick
"Sparkling." —The New York Times
"An utterly charming and deeply moving portrait of the joys—and the guilt—of trying to find your own way in life." —Celeste Ng, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Our Missing Hearts
"Lively, funny, poignant . . . Prepare to fall in love with Maddie. I did!" —Bonnie Garmus, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lessons in Chemistry
Maame (ma-meh) has many meanings in Twi but in my case, it means woman.
It’s fair to say that Maddie’s life in London is far from rewarding. With a mother who spends most of her time in Ghana (yet still somehow manages to be overbearing), Maddie is the primary caretaker for her father, who suffers from advanced stage Parkinson’s. At work, her boss is a nightmare and Maddie is tired of always being the only Black person in every meeting.
So when her mum returns from her latest trip, Maddie seizes the chance to move out of the family home and finally start living. A self-acknowledged late bloomer, she’s ready to experience some important “firsts”: She finds a flat share, says yes to after-work drinks, pushes for more recognition in her career, and throws herself into the bewildering world of internet dating. But when tragedy strikes, Maddie is forced to face the true nature of her unconventional family, and the perils—and rewards—of putting her heart on the line.
Smart, funny, and affecting, Jessica George's Maame deals with the themes of our time with humor and poignancy: from familial duty and racism, to female pleasure, the complexity of love, and the life-saving power of friendship. Most important, it explores what it feels like to be torn between two homes and cultures―and it celebrates finally being able to find where you belong.
"Meeting Maame feels like falling in love for the first time: warm, awkward, joyous, a little bit heartbreaking and, most of all, unforgettable." —Xochitl Gonzalez, New York Times bestselling author of Olga Dies Dreaming
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Unlike most coming-of-age novels, Jessica George’s warm and bittersweet debut, Maame, features a heroine who doesn’t need to grow up. By day, 25-year-old Maddie is overlooked and underpaid at her all-white (except for her) workplace. At night, she cares for her father, a Ghanaian immigrant incapacitated by Parkinson’s. When her absentee mother finally agrees to help, Maddie gets the chance to move out, make friends, drink, and date…but having fun is much harder than she anticipated. One of the novel’s most delightful devices is how Maddie consistently searches Google for things like hangover cures and “symptoms of depression.” We root for her as she navigates experiences that will feel familiar, funny, and painful to anyone who has ever turned to the internet to answer life’s biggest questions––and some little ones too.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this pitch-perfect debut, George captures the uncertainty, freedom, and anxiety of a London woman's mid-20s. Narrator Maddie Wright is a people pleaser who earns the nickname Maame ("the responsible one") from her family. She has an unsatisfying theater admin job where she is often "the only Black person in the room," and while her older brother, James, lives his life as he wants and her mother spends most of her time in her homeland of Ghana, Maddie steps up as the main caregiver for her Parkinson's afflicted father. Between her mother hitting her up for money and her incommunicative father, Maddie searches on Google for career guidance and dating advice, as well as remedies for panic attacks and grief. As her social life further dwindles and she worries she'll always be a virgin, Maddie begins the "slow descent into a dull existence." Then her mother finally comes back to take care of Maddie's father, and Maddie moves into a flat with two roommates who are determined to help her live a larger life, starting with a list of actions to turn her into "The New Maddie." But just as she's getting a taste of independence, tragedy strikes at home and at work, and she's forced to confront the microaggressions she faces in daily life, as well as ask herself how she deserves to be treated. The work's ample magnetism resides in the savvy portrayal of Maddie as a complicated, sharp, and vulnerable person who is trying to figure out adulthood. Readers will revel in this.
Customer Reviews
Wonderful!
This book came at the perfect time in my life. Relatable, insightful and enlightening, delightful, and deeply moving. I loved it!
Outstanding! This read fulfilled me in ways I can’t describe.
My first book in a couple of years and yet this writer held me tight with her style of writing and sleek narration. I had every desire to be carried gently along till the very last page. Just outstanding!
Loved!
Raw and honest.