His Only Wife

I love African literature and this is a great example of it. I love Afi's metamorphosis into a strong woman with a mind of her own. She really shows her independence when she becomes a clothing designer and divorces that philandering husband! Five Stars for a great debut novel! Thanks to Algonquin

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and LT for the advanced reader copy in exchange for a fair reviee

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I really enjoyed reading this book. With a most unusual storyline of a woman entering into marriage with the explicit purpose of ridding her new husband of his girlfriend, the book explored many facets of commitment, love, jealousy, expectations, culture and family. The author kept the story moving

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and created great sympathy for the main character. Learning about the marital culture in Ghana was very interesting, and I look forward to reading more from this author.

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Medie adeptly portrays Ghana’s contemporary patriarchal polygamous culture in her debut novel, His Only Wife. In this slowly changing rigid society, she illustrates the difficulties women face as they choose between traditional expectations and personal ambitions. Medie's writing style is subtle

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yet effective. Her characters are rich and engaging. I enjoyed this novel and look forward to future work by this talented author.

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I received this as a Library Thing ARC. I enjoyed this book about a young woman in Ghana who agrees to an arranged marriage. She eventually realizes that she cannot live with her circumstances and takes action to change them. Ultimately, readers realize that people are kind, complicated,

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controlling, messy no matter where they live or whom they love.

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A nice quick and enjoyable read. The main character Afi is young and a little naive at times. Her family puts pressure on her to have an arranged marriage with a rich family and she agrees. Even though her husband does not show up to the marriage and has another woman in his life. As she settles

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into a new big city, and enjoys the finer things in life, she also genuinely falls in love with her husband. However, as time goes on and it becomes clear he will not leave the other woman he is involved with she decides to leave him and start a new life for herself and her young son. I really enjoyed reading this story and Afi’s personality. I don’t feel Afi’s story is done and I hope the author will continue it and make it a series.

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I got this book free for my review; it comes out in September. I loved so much about this book, the rich sense of place and the characters. The only thing I didn’t love was the end, but it made sense that it ended the way it did.

Ali is a young woman who becomes involved in an arranged marriage to the son of her mothers benefactor and boss. Her new husband does not attend the wedding and the issues start there. I liked this book and the small glimpse into a society and culture I have not read much about.

Caution: If your husband does not attend your wedding you may not want to marry him! Fun story that takes place in Ghana of a young woman who marries a man that is represented at the wedding by his brother. She then moves to the big city to be with him but doesn't see him for a month. Fun,

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interesting read. Overall and enjoyable book.

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As a preface, I know nothing about contemporary Africa, much less the country of Ghana. With this in mind, I thoroughly recommend this book.

His Only Wife is a slice of life in Ghana, bridging the divide between the poorer citizens and the richer entrepreneurs. The protagonist, Afi, is the kind and

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loyal daughter of a widow. In the very first chapters, she is married off by her uncle to a man she has seen only rarely. His family wants her to lure Eli from the hussy who has ensnared him.

The marriage transforms Afi's life by transporting her to Accra and into the lives of the economic elite. At the same time, Afi herself changes as she comes to love her husband and begins to find herself in the economy of Ghana. When she discovers that things are not quite as Eli's family had represented, it's too late to stop her transformation into a dynamic business woman.

For those of us suffering from Covid-19 travel bans, this book will carry off to Ghana's small villages and sophisticated capital in the company of a young woman who grows into an entrepreneur.

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This story is an interesting delve into Ghanaian culture and gender , marriage roles in this culture. Despite the books premise , this story was very anticlimactic. We hear about things after the fact instead of when they happen, so it’s hard to get engaged in the story. Interesting culture read

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but the story overall is pretty predictable after a few chapters .

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I really enjoyed this book. Afi is easy to root for but not obnoxiously perfect. I felt a lot of empathy for most of the characters - including her husband and his mother. The relationships are complex and believable. It's a great book about boundaries - Muna's set up the dynamic with the family,

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but in the end Afi is true to her own. Evelyn is also a great character, doing her best within the bounds of her own boundaries and what society will allow her. The book asks us what we owe each other - mothers, uncles, and wives - but also what it takes to be true to ourselves.

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Engaging characters,intelligent, very readable. Afi feels excited, disconcerted that Eli is too busy to show up for his wedding, and and obligated to proceed with marriage to handsome and wealthy Ganyo son of Aunty. Aunty, the matriarch of Ganyo family has been more helpful to Afi and her mother

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since her father's death, than father's brother Toga Pious has been.

Afi was chosen to marry Eli to beguile him to end his relationship with a long-time girlfriend Aunty and the Ganyo family have not approved. Afi is taken to live in luxury apartment in Accra, where Eli eventually makes quick appearance and leaves. But Eli does call Afi each day and speaks affectionately with her. Bewildered by bizarre behavior of Eli not living with her, her mother, and Eli's relatives encourage her saying Eli is very busy with business matters, and girlfriend is making it difficult to for him to end his relationship with her.

Soon Eli does move into apartment and the marriage is finally consummated. Afi completely falls in love with Eli. To keep busy she takes a fashion design class with Sarah, a brilliant local designer, with the goal of opening her own dress shop. Eli encourages her. Afi becomes pregnant, and Eli is excited but soon Afi has had enough of the travesty of his girlfriend living in his house, while she, the wife lives in an apartment. She returns to her mother's home and insists she will not return to Accra until girlfriend is gone and she is moved into Eli's home.

Read this book to learn what happens; and how a smart woman regains control of her life.

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This is a light and enjoyable read about a poor young woman, Afi, in rural Ghana. She has an arranged marriage with a wealthy man, Eli, who lives in Accra. His family arranged the marriage hoping to persuade Eli to leave his current mistress, who his disliked by his mother. The story is told in

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Afi's voice, which is simple and earnest in her desire to please everyone, while finding happiness for herself. A good portion of the story revolves around the relationship between Afi and Eli, but what I enjoyed most about the narrative was Afi's reaction to the big city and her efforts to make a life for herself there.

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His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie is a story of a young woman in Ghana, Afi, who has grown up poor after her father dies. In order to help her mother, she agrees to marry the son of a rich woman in town. A proxy stands in for the husband, Ahi, and she goes to live in a luxury apartment in another

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town, but her husband does not join her for some time. She knows from her family that he has a lover, and that is who he is living with. Afi bears his child and insists that she live with him, but she discovers that he has not given up time with the other woman. She becomes a clothes designer and opens her own shop. Even though she is his only wife, she decides not to share her marriage with another woman, and she divorces him at the end of the story. The novel was well-written and has insight into the Ghanian culture, but it's a sad story with a sad ending.

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His Only Wife is the story of Afi, a poor aspiring seamstress, whose marriage is arranged with a rich successful businessman who does not even bother to show up for the wedding. This book has many of the themes that have ran through literature since the days of Shakespeare- a love triangle,

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rags-to-riches, a domineering mother-in-law, small town girl goes to the city, cheating men, etc... It is set in Ghana. At times I wanted to shake Afi and give her feminist advice, but I did enjoy this readable tale!

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This is a perfect book for reading during the Pandemic because it illustrates the saying “Books take us places when we are forced to stay home.” In this case, it is to contemporary Ghana with a look both at the rural lifestyle and beliefs and the city life. Afi and her mom have lived in poverty

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since her father’s unexpected death. They’ve been taken under the wing of Aunty Ganyo who has given Afi’s mother a job. When Afi gets older, she becomes the arranged marriage wife of Aunty’s wealthy son who lives in Accra. Aunty does not like Efi’s girlfriend and is determined to get this Liberian girlfriend out of her son’s life. Looking at what is happening through Afi’s eyes is not only a look at how Ghanan culture and tradition clash with modern women. Afi is determined not to share her husband. She is determined not to just sit in the luxury apartment waiting for him to visit. Her decision to get her own education, her own driver’s license, her own job and to move into her husband’s house forcing the girlfriend out leads to lots of clashes with Aunty. She is NOT to break with tradition. She is to learn to live with it. At the end of the book, you’ll cheer for Afi’s courage and determination to be her own person and live the life she deserves. This is Peace Adzo Medie’s debut novel and I look forward to more. She has an ability to create strong, three-dimensional women and tell their story. Thank goodness, Afi lived next door to her brother-in-law’s girlfriend who encouraged her to not accept “tradition.”

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This novel looks at a young woman who is offered an unusual opportunity in modern-day Ghana. There are descriptions of Ho and Accra, many descriptions of food that sounds delicious, and descriptions of large-family culture (traditional weddings, multiple traditional wives but one legal wife,

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raising a late sibling's children as your own, treating nieces and nephews as your own children). In many ways this novel is a romance (but not in a traditional Western sense) but it is also a coming-of-age (or coming-into-herself) story. It is definitely feminist, though it may not seem that way at points. Keep reading!

Afi and her mother have struggled after her father's death, but she has dreams of growing a seamstress business. Then she is offered a traditional (not legal) marriage to a man she has never met (she and her mother know the family). He has a girlfriend already, but his family does not appear. She and her mother agree because it is a good match for a struggling woman, and they want to thank his family for their help. But his brother stands in during the wedding.

Afi moves to Accra. She did not quite realize, being from a smaller city, what she was getting into--the crowds, the costs, the drivers--and she did not realize how little Eli had to do with this marriage. But he is a kind and attractive and successful man. She is young and a little naive, but with encouragement (including Eli's) she grabs the opportunities Accra offers. But will she be able to convince Eli to be her legal husband?

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Thank you to Algonquin and LibraryThing for providing me with an ARC of this book.

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This novel provides a glimpse into family life and relationships in Ghana. Set in contemporary times, it follows the transition Afi experiences when she is bound to marry wealthy Eli because her family is beholden to his powerful mother, Auntie. Although Afi barely knows Eli, she is willing to give

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the marriage a chance, even though he doesn't even attend the wedding. It becomes increasingly clear that he is living and in love with another woman, of whom is family doesn't approve. Her move from a tiny impoverished village to the city, and her newfound wealth from Eli's financial support, provide Afi with the means to create a new understanding of herself as she starts her own business and becomes a mother. Even as she assumes her own power, she wishes she had Eli's undivided love. His Only Wife will be memorable for me because of its portrait of a very different culture and the realistic ending.

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A marriage between Afi Tekple and Elikem Ganyo is arranged. She is poor, he is rich. The problem is that Eli does not show up for the wedding. Instead he sends a stand in. Eli has a live in girl friend with whom he has had a daughter. Eli's mother disapproves of his Liberian girlfriend and so has

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matched him up with a local girl and family friend. After the wedding Afi moves into one of Eli's apartments in the capital city of Accra. She waits and waits for Eli to come. He makes occasional visits to Afi but has no intention of leaving his girlfriend. However Eli encourages Afi to enroll in a fashion school and gives her an allowance which allows her some freedom. She also learns to drive. When Afi finds herself pregnant she demands that she move into Eli's main house so that they can live together as man and wife. Ultimately Afi realizes that she is never going to win Afi over an and divorces him. She is happy with her new life, running her successful clothing business and raising her son. This is the story of a woman's road to self discovery which leads to her independence. I received this advance copy through LibraryThing and really enjoyed the book. It made me want to know more about a country where polygyny, the marriage of one man to many women, is permitted.

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It is never a good sign when the groom doesn’t show up for the wedding. In this Ghanaian update of the legend of Cupid and Psyche, small-time seamstress Afi enters into a proxy arranged marriage with impossibly wealthy businessman Eli. His overbearing family, lead by domineering Aunty and

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ironically named Uncle Pious, hopes that having an official wife will lead Eli to drop his unacceptable Liberian girlfriend. But the family doesn't count on the strength of Eli's love for "that woman" Muna, or Afi's own ability to fight for what's important to her.

This short novel took a few chapters to grow on me, but I ended up enjoying the glimpse into the lives of affluent Ghanaians it provides. Highly recommended.

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In the best cases, arranged marriages can become ones where love and respect blooms. Afi doesn't necessarily expect that at the beginning of her marriage to Eli in Peace Adzo Medie's His Only Wife. After all, Eli doesn't even come to their wedding: his brother Richard stands in as his proxy. The

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couple aren't unknown to each other, having grown up in the same small Ghanian village. But they're not romantically involved before their wedding. Instead, Eli's mother, Faustina Ganyo, has arranged the marriage with Afi's mother. The Ganyo family have been benefactors of sorts to Afi and her mother after the death of her father when she was a child left them at the mercy of her greedy uncle, which means they're hard-pressed to say no when Faustina suggests the match. Eli had been unmarried, but was hardly single: he's been in a long-term relationship with someone his family refers to only as "the Liberian woman", with whom he shares a home and a daughter in Accra, and who does not like his family. They're counting of Afi to break it up.

Afi is moved into an apartment the family owns in Accra, experiencing a luxury and material ease she's never before known. But she feels quite a lot of pressure to win over Eli, to do what she's expected by his family and break up his relationship. Eli calls, and begins to visit, and the two start sleeping together and develop a bond. It's not long before Afi's reasons for wanting to break up Eli and his partner change: where once she was doing what she felt obligated to do, she falls in love with him. When she gets pregnant with their first child, a son, she finally feels empowered to make her move. Eli has to chose: if he wants to have a relationship with her and their baby, she'll need Eli to move his girlfriend and their daughter out. It's a high-risk, high-reward strategy, and has ultimate consequences she could have never imagined.

I wanted this book to be better than it was. Afi, at the beginning, is a compelling heroine: she approaches the marriage pragmatically, having had experience in a serious relationship which ended. But the speed with which she develops strong feelings for Eli doesn't feel real...she goes from feeling like she needs to "win" him to secure the approval of his family, because of the obligation she feels to them, to being deeply in love and very jealous essentially over the course of a weekend trip they take together. In order for the back half of the book to have the power it's meant to, one has to be invested in their relationship, to identify with Afi's love for Eli and her happiness with him. But without having built a foundation for that bond, and having specified that Afi is not without real romantic experience of her own, it rings more ridiculous than heart-rending.

It's not that the decision to make this Afi's story alone doesn't make sense, but it's frustrating that characters who seem just as if not more interesting, like Evelyn, Richard's girlfriend to whom Afi becomes close when they live in neighboring flats, or even the Liberian woman herself, get no voice in the narrative. It makes sense that this is a debut novel, because the missteps feel like a result of inexperience more than a lack of skill. Medie's prose is lively and witty, and I appreciated the way she trusted her words to show the reader about life in Ghana rather than telling us through clunky expositionary dialogue. It's a promising introduction to a new writer, but it's not compelling enough in and of itself for me to recommend it unreservedly. It's not necessarily not worth your time, but keep your expectations reasonable for this one.

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An enjoyable romance with a strong woman stuck at the mercy of her patriarchal familial wills. She perseveres through the challenge that her marriage presents to her as she falls in love with her husband. All the while she continues to understand and strive for a successful career. The story

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reminded me a little of a Ghanian version of Crazy Rich Asians.

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I felt like I learned a lot about Ghana reading this book. I wasn't really familiar with their customs going in, and I found myself continually looking up Ghanian words, particularly for food. It was a very interesting look into a different culture, although it made me feel terrible for the

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protagonist, who marries into a rich family, not for love, but at the request of her future groom's family. Although he is in love with another woman, he has agreed to the marriage, and she has high hopes for getting the relationship to work. She is also coping with her move to a large city, and her enrollment in a fashion design school. Although this is a little unorthodox for a story beginning with the protagonist's marriage, it is primarily a heartfelt coming-of-age story.

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I really enjoyed this book. The author’s writing style is very simplistic - which makes it a quick read - I read it in a day. The story is captivating and the characters are vivid. The ending is both sad and satisfying. It left me with the thought “as it should be.” Was I rendered speechless?

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No, but I enjoyed it ... a lot.

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