Can you imagine marrying someone in absentia and not just that, the person you are marrying is someone you've never spoken to and the person has a partner with a child already?!

Y'all, this book was such an interesting read. Starting with the writing style, this book will pull you in and hold you down with the ease of it. I found myself just eager to know what will happen next and I just kept on swiping and oohing and ahhing while reading.

The characters are the kind of characters who will always come to your mind long time after reading. You will wonder about them and how they are. They are memorable, they make annoying decisions, are complex while being compelling. The actions & relationships in this book are fueled with patriarchy. Oh, patriarchy had such an awesome time in this book. It went from babying the men, to making marriage the ultimate goal & African mommies and aunties teaching "How To Make The Man Stay" Vol. 01, to placing male child as the better child/gender, family determining who their child needs to marry, to women being slut-shamed, to independent women & women not easily manipulated being seen as arrogant, ugly and unmarriageable. Patriarchy was practically dancing and whining its waist throughout the course of the book.

If you are heading into this book with the hopes of falling in love with a character, I will advise that you dead that hope right now😂 the characters will irritate you with their actions and decisions and the men in this book are spineless. However, I liked Evelyn, one of the characters more than any of the characters. This is because she gave some advice I would in fact give to Afi, the protagonist, if I was a character in the book. Moreso, Evelyn was wise and living her "baby girl" life while not giving two fucks.

The only thing I would add to the book is more conflict and angst between Afi, the protagonist and Eli with probably another man. I was seriously rooting for Abe but oh, well. I probably would have enjoyed more of Muna too.

Overall, I believe this is a fantastic debut and I would definitely read more from Peace Adzo Medie. Also, if you enjoyed The Secret Lives Of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Shoneyin & Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo, I don't know what you are still waiting for. Get this book! You'll love it.

Last thing, this will be a fantastic book club read. It would be fun hearing people's opinions.

Afi is asked to marry a man (Eli) who’s living with a woman his family doesn’t approve of. She agrees to the marriage because she feels indebted to Eli’s mother and then it turns into something she didn’t expect. Afi is a young woman who discovers her strength and decides she’s going to be herself and go after what she wants even if it mean stirring the pot. I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it.

Thanks to the publisher and netgally for the arc of this book.

His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie is a thoughtful and intriguing debut novel. It starts with a bang when Afi's husband is a no show at her wedding and a stand in is sent instead. As a way out of a life of struggle, the sees the wedding as a way to repay the Gayno family's kindness, but it comes with the worry of if she'll be able to capture the affection of her new husband, who is already in love with another woman. More than just a story of love, it's a story about family, obligation, and self discovery.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Algonquin Books for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

This was an exceptionally made for tv style read, dramatic and at times very over the top.

We have Afi who is chosen to marry her family's wealthy benefactors son. Thing is said son is already involved with another woman. Afi and her family goes into this marriage knowing this but her...Afi being the good daughter, niece and eventually her families savior marries Eli anyway. What ensues is gossip, lies, family drama and a big ass secret that even your best TV day-time soap couldn't match.

I liked the story for what it was, trope-y drama. The characters weren’t very likable, none of them really but I get the feeling this author wanted that. It’s hard to feel sorry for Afi and the predicament she finds herself in knowing fully well that she went into the marriage knowing that her “husband” was already with another woman. I understand the pressure she was under to make a better life for her mother but was marrying an already involved man the way? I’m not going to pretend that Eli and his family's wealth was one the main reason her family decided to bull ahead into the relationship. Her crying about being cheated on by Eli was a bit much and I was like she knew soooo….

I get it she is young, twenty-one and emotionally...she is still immature. But I refused to sympathize with her when she found out the man didn’t only want to be with her.

I don’t have much to say about Eli and his family, they were the worst. Listen, I understand trying to please one's parent but if he would have just admitted that he wanted more than one damn wife. Men and the people who enable them *sucks teeth.

I also felt some kind of way about his “first” wife (which I whole-heartily believe he was married to as well) being called “that woman” during this read. But I guess the author wanted readers to understand just how un-liked she was by Eli’s family and then eventually Afi.

Side note: I didn’t believe in his relationship with Afi, as a reader I knew it was very surface level.

We spend a lot of time in Afi’s head throughout His Only Wife and that’s fine, it’s from her POV but it did get a bit monotonous at times. The telling of this story was very plot hole-ish, I’m not sure exactly what the author wanted us to know by its end. Sure she covers a mirage of things during its telling: colorism, classism and mainly polygamy (because again, I refused to believe Eli wasn’t married to the other woman)... But still, the story was a bit all over the place so I think I wanted a more clear ending and we didn’t get that...really.

Writing style, Peace Adzo Medi did an excellent job of keeping readers interested because I was. Her writing was very engaging and theatrical. Readers will definitely have some eyebrow raising moments.

At the end of it all, His Only Wife is still a good story. It will give readers the emotional pull we generally look for when going into stories so that’s a win. Highly recommended read for me and I say add it to your library.

*Thank you the publisher for the opportunity to read/review.

𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙊𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙒𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝙋𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝘼𝙙𝙯𝙤 𝙈𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙚

Thank you @algonquinbooks for including me in the blog tour for “His Only Wife” by @peacemedie . The book comes out on September 1, 2020, so be sure to check it out!

𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀:
Afi is a young seamstress living in the small town of Ho when she is betrothed to Eli, the successful son of her family’s benefactor. The marriage has been arranged by Eli’s family in an effort to get him away from his Liberian mistress, a woman viewed as unsuitable by all. Eli is not even at the wedding—the couple is married by proxy. Afi moves into a luxury apartment in Accra, the bustling capital city, but weeks go by without a visit from her new husband. She enrolls in design school and begins to build a life for herself. When Afi and Eli do finally consummate their marriage, the attraction and affection between them is real. But, Eli continues his second life with the other woman, leaving Afi confused about her options.

My thoughts:
Y’all, the whole time I was reading, all I could hear was my Mama’s voice saying, “You can’t keep a man that doesn’t want to be kept.” Eli got on my nerves wanting to have his cake and eat it too. Granted, his family pushed this marriage between him and Afi, but he could have been a lot more proactive and real. I liked Evelyn in the story because she had all the tea, and mostly kept it real with Afi. Plus, she was about her money and I can respect that lol. As for Afi, she definitely grew up as the story went on...but that’s all I’m going to say. You have to read the messiness on your own 😂😂😂

#hisonlywife

4,5

This is Peace Adzo Medie's impressive first novel, which follows follows twenty-one-year-old seamstress Afi, from a family in grinding poverty. She gets an apparent Cinderella deal when a wealthy woman who contributes a lot of the neighborhood poor arranges a marriage between Afi to her handsome son Eli, a wealthy businessman.

But as days go by and Afi hasn’t actually met her husband, but hears of him always elsewhere, and with another woman (whom his mother despises), that Afi begins to realize that she is not a Cinderella, and she takes the first steps toward directing her own life.

I’m far too ignorant about Ghanan history and culture to comment on how accurate the depiction was, but it felt realistic in all its details, especially the influence of all the African Aunties and Uncles. These intense familial relationships matched others readings I’ve done, conveying a strong sense of authenticity—especially with respect to the portrayal of wealthy, strong men, who are deemed the absolute monarchs of their families, and yet they are still cowed by their mothers and aunties.

This seeming contradiction is met with in numerous other cultures in which extended family is the strongest binding between people, particularly people with one foot in traditional culture and another in contemporary ways. Unfortunately, equally common is the trend of families selling their daughters into situations that general gossip acknowledges as potentially troubling, out of sheer financial necessity.

It’s not that the daughters are hated. The depiction of conversations with elders, close family friends, and the various neighbors that Afi meets, seem to be a realistic depiction of the layers of culture, tradition, vs. need and ambition.

Yes, it’s often pointed out that it’s always young women who are sacrificed to these marriages intended to (as it was said in the eighteenth century) “bring up” the family, but on the other hand it’s the young men who are sacrificed on the battlefield.

Medie’s novel enlightens the reader as we follow Afi in her bid to take charge of her life, creating an unforgettable read.

A modern tale of one woman discovering her own sense of purpose in Ghana amidst family drama, expectations, and marriage. I'm not one who automatically goes for domestic stories, so extremely pleased to say that this was such a fantastic read.

Characters: ★★★★★
Plot/Pacing: ★★★★
Enjoyment: ★★★★ 1/2

“Elikem married me in absentia; he did not come to our wedding.”

That's the first line. I think it's charismatic enough on its own—it definitely made me want to pick it up—but for the sake of reviewing, let's get into it.

Afi is a young woman living in a small, rural community near the city of Accra in Ghana. Her mother and herself have existed on the edges of poverty, clinging to the good graces of their extended family and of Aunty, the rich benefactor of the community.

So when Aunty tells Afi and her mother to do something, they do it. Aunty's latest request is more than a passing task, however—Aunty wants Afi to marry her son, Eli.

Now there's obviously a catch to Aunty's "benevolence"—Afi also has another purpose as Eli's wife. Eli is currently living with a Liberian woman...who hates Aunty and doesn't allow the family to be close to them. It is Afi's job to lure him away and make him come back into the family fold.

Whew. Talk about an intense start to a marriage.

Afi was such an interesting character to spend time with, mostly because I found her pure heart and stalwart sense of self to be such a refreshing perspectivee in a female protagonist. This is a novel where it would have been easy to remove the woman's sense of agency—Afi is essentially a bought bride, who is meant to break up an existing relationship and trick her husband—but Afi stands strong. In a reality where she came from nothing and is thrust into a world unrecognizable to her own, she does her best.

And her best is pretty darn good... Accra is a big city, with big dreams. It's time for Afi to find herself and discover what it means to truly be free.

Thank you so much to Algonquin Books for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

You have to learn to fight for your husband and never let your guard down Basically Afi meets and falls in love with Eli and sends their entire marriage trying to please and keep him. It is exhausting to say the least.

I was enamoured with this book from the beginning. I LOVE books that are set in Ghana and I have such an affinity for Ghana’s culture, I wanted to inhale this book. I felt the premise was strong and the execution equally as strong. I loved that it was contemporary Ghana and a love story. The writer did such a great job of taking us in to the marriage of Eli and Afi and I didn’t want to leave.

I really enjoyed this! If you are looking for a fresh, contemporary Ghanaian read, this is it!

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 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.”

This is a brilliant story of a woman in Ghana who refuses to accept anything that is less than she believes she deserves. The story starts on Afi Tekple’s wedding day, except the man she is marrying, Eli, is not there and he sends her brother in his absence to stand for him. Who knew you could not attend your own wedding.

Going into this marriage she knows her husband was in love with another woman and that he has a child with her, but his mother and family will not bless this wedding, and that is where Afi comes in. After the wedding she moves to Accra to a beautiful apartment, and does not meet her husband for almost two months.

The first year of their marriage is awkward. Eli is never home, spending time with the other woman and their child. They do start to spend more time together and she inevitably falls in love with Eli. Everything seems like it is going so well, but this story starts to unravel and Medie takes on a journey that will be unforgettable.

I adored this book very much. It was wonderful to see how the author depicts this strong woman. This felt refreshing compared to many other books I have read with Africa as the setting. You will definitely not want to put this one down.

For a chance to win a copy please leave a comment and I will choose one winner. Please residents of the US only.

Thank you Algonquin for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

HIS ONLY WIFE is a remarkable, refreshing, powerful novel! I’m truly blown away by Medie‘s writing. This is a novel that was hard to put down. No matter how hard some of the days have been, His Only Wife is the perfect escape - not because it’s fluffy. It’s not. Not at all. But because it’s engrossing, and I’m learning things outside of my everyday perspectives, and it provides a nuanced look at feminism and autonomy that isn’t present in a lot of books.

His Only Wife gives us a vivid look into the life of Ghanaian women through Afi and her marriage to Eli. But it also shows us that we can be empowered and independent but ALSO love another person romantically and enter into a partnership on our own terms. That’s a really nuanced approach to feminism and liberation, and one that I think is really empowering if it’s done right. And Medie does it right.

Thank you so much to Algonquin and NetGalley for this advance copy!

I recently read His Only Wife by and I could not put it down! The novel follows Afi, who lives in a small town in Ghana. We learn that with her father’s death, Afi and her mother struggled financially and relied on other relatives to get by. However, an unexpected opportunity comes up that will potentially change the course of Afi and her mother’s lives: a marriage proposal from the wealthy Elikem Ganyo, a man she does not know but whose family has helped provide for Afi and her mother. Despite her own reservations AND marrying a stand-in at their wedding, Afi moves to the bigger city of Accra to presumably live with Eli. The problem? Eli is in love with another woman, and his marriage to Afi was meant to draw him away from that other woman and bring him closer to his family.

I loved seeing how all the relationships played out in this story, and not just the romantic ones. The women in the story are portrayed so complexly and you see how they’ve each adjusted to or fought against their individual situations despite societal pressures put upon them. I liked how even Eli was a nuanced character, even if it was really easy to hate him at times. The book also explores class differences and the different expectations for men and women in relationships, particularly when it comes to polygamy. I don’t often read books portraying polygamy, but I enjoyed reading how Afi navigated this new relationship while also finding her voice and fulfilling her own needs and desires.

A BIG thank you to Algonquin Books for this advance copy. If you like complicated relationships an engaging plot, and strong female characters, put this on your TBR. I really loved this one and hope you all pick it up!

Afi Tekpe lives in a small town in Ghana. Her mother does not give her the support she needs, her Father has died, and her extended family does not care for her. She does not have much, but she does have an affinity for sewing. She marries Eli and is able to move to the big city and begin working under one of Ghana’s best fashion designers.

Despite her success, her marriage is just part of her husband’s ongoing battle with his family. He is in love with a woman that they do not approve of. But there is just one problem, Afi has fallen in love with him. Afi however does not know that Eli’s parents have arranged this marriage with only their best interests in mind. Afi takes matters into her own hand and in the end is victorious.

I really enjoyed this book. I love a strong female lead who forges her own way and finds her own voice. I also really enjoyed that His Only Wife was set in Ghana, both in her small town and in a larger city. It was an interesting look into Ghana’s culture. Medie’s writing was another thing to love about this book. It was easy to read but also thought provoking.

In His Only Wife, we see Afi Tekple enter into an arranged marriage to please her mother and the wealthy Aunty Ganyo who kept them from poverty. Aunty tasks her with separating her future husband from a woman Aunty does not approve of. She agrees.

Not only does Eli Ganyo marry Afi in absentia, he doesn’t even show up to meet her for two months after their wedding day though he houses her in a beautiful flat to start her life as a Ganyo.

As Afi blossoms into her new wealthy lifestyle in Accra, she begins to learn, to continue her education, and to grow into herself and her new marriage. Her problems eventually come to a head and as she’s faced with her patriarchal past and present or the dreams of a more vibrantly feminist future, Afi must make a decision that will set her life and the lives of her family on their course.

I enjoyed this book immensely! I enjoyed the writing and Afi growing into herself. I had a hard time reading about the audacity of all the men. Even though this is set in modern Ghana, there were still beliefs in place within the society about who is in charge and what is allowed from men and from women. I struggled to watch Afi not only be placed under those constraints by other people, but also to do this to herself.

This is probably why my favorite character was absolutely Evelyn! She is a feminist in her own way and is a great friend to Afi during her trials. She loves with her head, not with her heart and she always gets her money. Each of the women in this story were strong and idealistic and feminists and I found the multi-faceted way this played out within their interactions to be very interesting.

I appreciated reading this book and learning from it and I hope you all will look into it! It’s a story that needs to be read!

His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie out September 1, 2020!

Thank you again to @peacemedie and @algonquinbooks and @netgalley for my gifted copy and the chance to review

The author of His Only Wife has packed so much into this debut novel. We are shown the patriarch society of Ghana but Peace Adzo Medie also gives us the women who not only survive but thrive in it.

Afi is a very naive quiet seamstress who is under the thumb of her Uncle Pious. She receives a marriage proposal from a wealthy family to marry their son Elikem. She accepts in the hope that she can escape her uncles and aunties to find love and her own life.

The problem is Elikem sends a proxy to the wedding and though he puts her in an expensive apartment in the capital city of Accra he is not part of her life. He is in love with another woman his family disapproves of
and they are hoping Afi can steal his heart away from her. Once again Afi is a pawn in someone else's plan.

As Afi is left alone for the first time she starts to trust herself and believe in herself. She uses her marriage to try to become the fashion designer she only had as a dream. She also starts to feel she has found where she belongs in a city alive with people from all over and where dreams become reality.

One of the aspects that I love about the book is the world building the writer has so meticulously created for us readers. We usually think of creating a world in fantasy novels but this author has brought Ghana to life with her vibrant prose. The smells, the colors, the landscapes and most of all the people are three dimensional and become a part of your life.

As a product of the women's lib era there where many times I wanted to throttle Uncle Pious and the other male characters but this is not their story. It is about Afi's life and the one she creates for herself.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie is the story of Afi Tekple, a young woman from Ghana who is married in abstentia to a man who is in love with another woman – one of whom his family disapproves. Afi’s directive is to win him back for his family by any means necessary.

I truly enjoy when a book takes a scenario for which you think you have a particular moral stance and then unravels the intricacy and greyness of that morality, leaving you empathetic with all sides. This story delves into the many facets of arranged marriage and the polygamist lifestyle and all of the ties and pressures that are bound to it – social, cultural, familial, and personal.

This is a story of balancing expectations that others put upon you – family, society, friends – and the values and expectations you hold for yourself. I appreciated that Afi set limits for herself of what she could and could not accept and stuck with them, but in an honest way that still acknowledged the difficulty in giving up a life of love and luxury to hold true to herself. It’s a reminder that saying ‘yes’ to others, should not mean saying ‘no’ to yourself and that erecting these boundaries sets an example for how others should treat you.

That being said – there wasn’t enough complexity and conflict in the plot to make it a truly great read for me. There were several minor events in the novel that seemed to have the makings of some plot-propelling conflict, but then nothing came of them and I was left wondering why they had been included in the first place. I read through the book in a constant state of waiting for something bigger to happen, and it never did. The writing was very straightforward and I was able to read it through in a single sitting.

This book would be great for anyone who enjoys strong female characters, books that stretch their notions of morality, and someone who prefers character to plot driven novel.

Special thanks to @algonquinbooks and @peacemedie for including me in the blog tour for this novel which drops tomorrow!

I have mixed feelings about this contemporary African story about love, marriage, culture and what it means to be the perfect daughter, wife and to “keep your home.” The premise is that Afi, is a young seamstress from a rural town in Ghana who wins the proverbial lottery when she’s selected by her family’s wealthy benefactors to marry their favourite son, Eli, who’s involved with a woman they do not approve of. Afi’s task as the new (traditionally-wed, family-approved) wife is to divert Eli’s attentions from the “Jezebel” who’s stolen him away from his family. I was intrigued by this African film industry premise and excited to check it out. The idea was not at all unrealistic to me as I’ve seen similar things play out in real life although not quite with people as cosmopolitanly urbane but I’m not disputing the plausibility.

It was a little hard to "like" any of the characters in this book because some of them were a little trope-y but for me which was fine, I don't mind a trope- but they never quite managed to break through from the shell. I really struggled with Afi’s youthful naïveté. I struggled to “buy” the deep-seated love relationship between she and Eli, especially since she went in with eyes open knowing full well there was another woman involved in the mix. Therefore, it seemed a little out of place later when she made it seem like she was being cheated on when she came in as the latter day entrant to the “polygamous” relationship. It didn't really make sense to me as she was built up as knowing the situation beforehand and so, I’m not quite sure what her endgame or expectations were but as a reader, it didn’t feel realistic to me. Again, to be charitable, Afi IS quite young at 21 and also quite inexperienced, so perhaps that plays a role in her characterization and behaviour.

Plot-wise to me, there were a few holes and I had questions but not enough that I couldn’t understand what was happening or go with the flow. I just I suppose didn’t get the direction of the book and don’t really understand what it wanted to accomplish. When we were introduced to Yaya’s friends, I expected more to come from that nugget to create dramatic effect. The building of tension between Afi’s family and the Ganyos was fabulous, I only wish more had been done with that potential plot angle. The author was great at creating potential opportunities for tension but she often just releases them without exploring further or stoking the flames so there were lots of moments were my expectations for more drama were built and then allowed to fall flat. The resolution and the conflicts felt a little too easily achieved when a book such as this was BEGGING for more dramatic effect.

What was good about this was the writing- it was engaging and breezy, delightfully readable and evocative of the emotions and images the author was trying to convey. It was the literary equivalent of an old-school Ghollywood movie and I was absolutely here for that. The descriptions of contemporary Ghanaian life and African Aunties and Uncles was absolutely spot on. I’m not Ghanaian but I am West African with my own African Aunties and Uncles in the village and I recognized them one hundred percent in authenticity. I loved the observations about city life and city yuppies and the descriptions of the lifestyles, people and places both in the rural and urban areas. This author is sharp and witty in her observations bringing laugh out loud humor to an otherwise frustrating story. I liked the exploration of the themes of money and love which are really pertinent in the global (and African) sugar baby culture. I thought the portrayal of grown, successful men still being controlled by their families was timely as was the incredibly problematic but still very current trend of families selling their daughters into potentially toxic relationships because out of financial need. I thought the advice and opinions of the elders, friends, and cosmopolitan neighbors was a realistic reflection of what actually happens and what would actually be said in these situations.

I thought that overall, this was fine and was a good enough debut but I wish the author had really taken it “there” with this book. It was begging for more real conflict and more drama that matched the excellence of the set up. As it is, this is a good story about contemporary polygamous relationships and arranged marriages with modern couples in West Africa and one young woman’s courageous journey to discovering her boundaries with love and relationships.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Algonquin Books.

"Since my mother told me that I would be marrying Eli, I had felt as thought I was balancing our two families like a basin of water, which was full to the brim, on my head. It wasn't easy being the key to other people's happiness, and their victory, and their vindication."

His Only Wife is the story of Afi, a poor seamstress in Ghana who we meet on her wedding day. It has been arranged that she'll marry Eli, the son of the most wealthy woman in town, Aunty. While her mother and family see this as a huge opportunity, Afi isn't so sure - not only does she not know Eli, he won't even be at their wedding. But Afi acquiesces, knowing this marriage will help her, her widowed mother and her many relatives. It will also help Aunty because she's chosen Afi for one purpose - to rid Eli of the other woman who has a hold f his heart.

I loved this book for a lot of reasons. The characters are wonderful and so vividly painted - I could picture them all as if I was watching a movie. I also really enjoyed the setting of the book - I had never read anything about Ghana before. But what really resonated with me was that it's a book about women and the choices they make based on - and sometimes in spite of - societal expectations and norms. We get to know Afi who struggles to balance a traditional wifely role with what she really wants; her mother who has found a way to survive after losing her husband but is always beholden to someone; Aunty, who holds tight reins over everything from her businesses to her family; her daughter, Yaya, a more modern Ghanan woman; Afi's best friend, Mawusi, who hopes her schooling will afford her a better life; and Evelyn, the mistress of Eli's brother who becomes Afi's friend. They are all trying to navigate their place in a man's world but in completely different ways.

Peace Adzo Medie is a beautiful writer and the story she tells will draw you in from the start. You'll root for Afi to get her happily ever after, even if that ends up being something different than she might have expected.

4.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley, Algonquin Books and the author for an advanced copy to review.

Thank you @Algonquin for a copy of His Only Wife.
Pub Date: September 1, 2020

Congratulation Peace Adzo Medie on writing an amazing debut. I had a really hard time putting this book down. His Only Wife was about women empowerment, culture/traditions, marriage, love, and money.
What I like:
- His Only Wife literally transports you to Ghana. Medie did a fantastic job describing Afi surroundings. This book reminds me of Crazy Rich Asian 🎶Money money MOOONNNNEEYY🎶
- I loved Afi. She was naive, smart, hardworking, and strong. Now you probably wondering how can I use naive and smart in one sentence to describe Afi, well read the book. 😁
- I learned so many things about the Ghanian culture and traditions such as the two types of marriage; spiritual and official.
- Many women feel the pressure to have and keep a husband no matter what. There are many women like Afi who are put in situations that benefit their families but not themselves. Medie brings awareness.
- I love the fact Medie used Ghanian terminology for food, vehicles, clothes, etc. I had to use Google but it didn’t take me away from wanting more.
- There were characters (Afi’s uncle, Aunty, etc.) who really got under my skin but I love it when Afi stood up to them.
- The characters were realistic and the problems Afi faced were realistic.
- What I take away from this book is it important and it’s okay as women to put out happiness first. We don’t have to be in a relationship that isn’t fair or doesn’t make us happy.

I recommend everyone from different races and cultures to read this book.

I would characterize this as a fun, very enjoyable beach read. And I don't mean that negatively at all. What I mean is that I read this SO FAST, was engaged the entire time, and it wasn't super serious in tone. I couldn't put it down and when I had to I kept thinking about it until I picked it back up again. I recommend reading this if you're interested in light, linear stories about relationships, family dynamics, and women's journeys.

His Only Wife is a contemporary domestic story about a woman in Ghana named Afi who is married off to a man by a family that is trying to pull him away from a "toxic" girlfriend. The book explores Afi's experience being a pawn in their effort to manipulate and control him. WHEW BOY, traditional gender roles + patriarchy + compulsory heterosexuality + family/hometown expectations are a cage, man. I love stories about women defying expectations, building their own paths, and not giving in to other people's "decisions" about their lives. Watching Afi blossom and grow into herself was a joy to read. I also appreciated how much this book was about class, gender roles, and marital traditions in Ghana.

OH! Evelyn is the best character in this book. Loooove her. If Peace Adzo Medie writes a book about Evelyn I am there! But honestly I'll be there no matter what Medie's next book is about :)

Thank you to #NetGalley and Algonquin Books for providing me with a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.