At the start of 2021, for the first time in my life, I intentionally read books from African authors. I looked to GoodReads for good recommendations and as I was perusing through highly rated books from African authors I came across Stay With Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ. Most of the books I came across had similar content: marriage, loss, struggle, spirituality, brokenness, patriarchy etc. and in my opinion, women are usually the ones going through some sort of suffering so I wasn’t interested at first. I read books to run away from these grueling topics not towards them. I’m a fantasy girl at heart; give me fairies, magic and dragon slayers. But Stay With Me intrigued me for some reason, maybe it was the book cover or maybe I was drawn to the topic of polygamy in which I’m not so well versed.
The synopsis on Goodreads looked fairly interesting, but it still sounded a lot like any other generic story: husband and wife, marital problems, secrets, lies and so on:
“This celebrated, unforgettable first novel, shortlisted for the prestigious Women’s Prize for Fiction and set in Nigeria, gives voice to both husband and wife as they tell the story of their marriage–and the forces that threaten to tear it apart. Yejide and Akin have been married since they met and fell in love at university. Though many expected Akin to take several wives, he and Yejide have always agreed: polygamy is not for them. But four years into their marriage–after consulting fertility doctors and healers, trying strange teas and unlikely cures–Yejide is still not pregnant. She assumes she still has time–until her family arrives on her doorstep with a young woman they introduce as Akin’s second wife. Furious, shocked, and livid with jealousy, Yejide knows the only way to save her marriage is to get pregnant, which, finally, she does–but at a cost far greater than she could have dared to imagine. An electrifying novel of enormous emotional power, Stay With Me asks how much we can sacrifice for the sake of family.“
The book starts with the betrayal from the very start, and I was immediately drawn into Yejide’s anger. How could her seemingly loving husband agree to get a second wife behind Yejide’s back! I was lifting up my proverbial slipper and getting ready to knock him upside the head, but then the story delved much deeper than I ever expected it would.
The plot was fraught with danger and betrayal, murder, false prophets, and against my best wishes it brought me back to see the Africa that I often try to flee from in my head. I found some of it too far fetched though – I think the plot progressed the way it did just for the sake of deepening the betrayal but I couldn’t stop reading it.
The story, in essence, is heartbreaking. At one point I tweeted that I was reading the book and one of my mutual followers on Twitter asked me if I thought Akin loved Yejide? I hadn’t finished the book yet but I was sure that despite his strange behaviour he truly loved her and I told her that. Now though – now I’m not so sure.
Even though my heart broke into many little pieces I really enjoyed reading this book.
Nyasha Rambles 