Stay with Me: A novel

Stay with Me: A novel

Hardcover
3.73

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Beschreibung

A New York Times Notable Book
The New York Times’ Critics’ Top Books of the Year
Named a Best Book of the Year by San Francisco Chronicle, National Public Radio, The Economist, Buzzfeed, Paste Magazine, Southern Living, HelloGiggles, and Shelf Awareness
Huffington Post’s Best Feminist Books of the Year
The New York Post’s Most Thrilling and Fascinating Books of the Year
The New York Public Library’s Ten Best Books of the Year

"A stunning debut novel." —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

This celebrated, unforgettable first novel (“A bright, big-hearted demonstration of female spirit.” –The Guardian), 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.
Haupt-Genre
N/A
Sub-Genre
N/A
Format
Hardcover
Seitenzahl
272
Preis
20.56 €

Beiträge

2
Alle
5

Stay with Me is a fascinating, intense novel, which, once you've started it, are unable to put down. It's the portrait of a marriage, which from the beginning is under threat bey things unsaid and baggage from the past. Ayobami Adebayos debut novel is a rare treat. By allowing both partners to tell the(ir) story, she is able to dive deep in to their past and present and to unmask their own and their partner's character very convincingly without ever revealing too much. She manages to keep the suspense up, the reader has to imagine and guess at events, which will only be resolved at a later stage. The novel is not crime fiction, but the limited insights, the very minimalistic and mature style of narration, sometimes make you forget that it is not. The fact, that Adebayor also refrains from mentioning which character's view will be presented in the following chapter adds to the reader's sense of uncertainty. It always takes a couple of sentences to find out. The story's context is 1980s Nigeria, an nation in turmoil, which, like the setting in Adichies Purple Hibiscus, can be read as a comment on the state and development of the characters, which adds another sophisticated level to the narrative. It also explains the presence of alternative healing methods and spiritual beliefs, while the characters go out of their way to unsuccessfully discard these traditional ideas. It's a disturbing, touching, savage, sad, demanding novel that is worth your time.

2

So… How do I feel about this book? It did not grab my attention the way I would have liked it to. It is not badly written or superficial, not at all. The characters are evolving in a gorgeous (yet often disappointing, in a kind of life-interfering) way. Still, I couldn't keep reading for more than 20 min in one session and contemplated abandoning the book more than once. I think I get what people see and feel when diving into the story. It is beautiful indeed… but we didn't click. Maybe I'll give it some years and try again at a later stage in life.

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