His Only Wife

Product Information

When she does meet Eli she immediately (albeit rather inexplicably for the reader) falls in love with him – but this has the effect of making her unwilling to go along with the pretense of being second choice. And this puts her in conflict with: Eli (who insists he will resolve the situation, just not yet); the Ganyo’s (who sympathise with her situation and want the same end as her – but want her to follow their timing); her mother (who feels this is her one chance both to repay her benefactress Aunty plus to gain her own independence from Uncle Pious and build her own house) and Uncle Pious (who cannot understand why Afi, as part of her family obligations, is not sending him copious gifts and agreeing to house and pay school fees for various cousins). About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”: Afi, don’t forget who you are. You are not an actress and this is not a romance film. This is not one of those telenovelas you and Mawusi have been watching. This is real life. This is our life. You will get to know him and like him. That is how it is.' Afi wants to be the only wife to her new husband, Elikem. And should anything the contrary be an option, i.e., having a second wife, even if this practice is accepted in your culture? This is the core of the struggle laid out in this book written through Afi’s perspective - the story is a fight to make her husband hers, and In His Only Wife , Medie takes the idea of an arranged marriage and gives it a fresh twist. Instead of the usual scenario where the bride is forced to marry an older, gross, brute of a man (in the vein of The Girl With The Louding Voice), here we have a beautiful, but poor, young woman persuaded to marry the attractive, wealthy business man, Elikem Ganyo. Afi Tekple barely knows Elikem but the marriage will make her family financially secure and give her entry to the glitzy lifestyle she has dreamed of achieving.

His Only Wifefollows the story of Afi Tekple, a young seamstress in Ho who is chosen by the wealthy Ganyo family to marry their son, Elikem, in a bid to get him out of the clutches of another woman. What ensues is an unconventional and unexpected love story, a collision of worlds, an awakening to new possibilities, the search for one’s identity, being true to oneself and creating your own destiny while navigating the demands of family and societal expectations. This novel is authentically Ghanaian and gave me vibes similar to Ama Ata Aidoo’s Changes,but set in contemporary Ghana. A witty, moving, and smart debut novel, His Only Wife takes place in aworld of men who want their wives to be beautiful, to be good cooks andmothers, to grant their husbands forbearance. And in Afi, we meet adelightful,brave, and relatable heroine who just may break all the rules. His Only Wife is a family drama in the vein of a somewhat twisted Cinderella story. However, no one, especially the main character Afi, asked enough questions for me. She didn't try to meet the other woman before giving herself away to this man. She just raged. After lunch, Eli and Afi started spending more time together at home. He started sleeping over, and she felt like they were getting closer. However, she was concerned that she was in a flat in a building owned by his older brother and not his main house. She tried to bring up the other woman, but he would get mad and clam up. He only brought up his daughter Ivy occasionally. However, the relationship between him and the other woman, Muna, was a constant stress in their marriage.

Evelyn knew that Richard would never oppose his mother and marry her. She was, like Muna, unacceptable. Eventually, Richard starting dating a woman his family approved of. She knew that her time with him had its limits, and she was seeing a lawyer in addition to Richard. Mother of the Son Left penniless after her father’s death, Afi and her mother survive thanks to the wealth of a benefactor, Aunty Faustina. When Aunty proposes an arranged marriage between her son, Elikem, and Afi, it is an opportunity to repay her kindness and to enjoy the comforts of wealth again. Only Elikem’s secret affair with a woman whom his family dislikes complicates the offer. Nevertheless, Afi agrees. Bottom line: I could say something about the clear and straightforward writing style, or how this somehow felt both too long and too short, or probably a bunch of other stuff, but what it comes down to is I'm nosy. Now, for my less profane thoughts: His Only Wife is an enthralling story about two Ghanian families, one love triangle, and the people and places caught in between them.

After a wedding sans the groom, Afi moves from her small Ghanian town to Accra, where she is put up in a ritzy condo and carefully looked after. Weeks elapse before Afi meets Elikem in person. In the meantime, Afi uses her newfound connections to enroll in a design school.

But I didn't care much about the characters. You'd think that should make a difference, because who wants juicy details about the lives of people they don't know or take interest in? Eli said he loved both her and Muna. This is when Afi realized that Eli would never marry her for real; he wanted two equal wives. His only concession was that she would be the first wife. Afi did not want to be a wife; she wanted to be the only wife. She realized there was nothing wrong with Muna, just that his family didn’t approve of her. When Eli refused to choose only her, Afi asked for a divorce. But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in. Throughout Afi's marriage, she learns that she's not the only woman that Eli loves and that some things just won't change. Afi has to gain a voice and not settle for anything if she wants things to change—not just in her household but for the Ganyo's as well.

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. Part of me wishes that the Liberian woman had also been given a pov, making the novel feel less biased. I also wish that we could have seen more of Afi without the Ganyos (for example scenes while she's studying fashion would have been nice, or even her socialising with more people outside of her apartment). Now the ending. So I’m glad Afi left Eli after seeing that his heart is still with the other woman (did we ever learn her name??). But I wanted more. I think it would have been good if the author had an epilogue set in the future so that we know more of what happens to Afi after leaving Eli. The synopsisWith spot-on characterizations of deeply involved extended families and realistic depictions of how money can change everything, Peace Adzo Medie conjures a Cinderella story just right for 2020.” In her latest book, writer and professor Peace Adzo Medie puts a wonderfully contemporary spin on a fairytale trope. Set in Medie’s native Ghana, “His Only Wife” begins with a familiar premise: A sweet but poor young woman marries a prince – well, in this case, he’s a handsome, wealthy businessman. Against this familiar plot, Medie explores the complexities that strong women face as they learn to effectively navigate a patriarchal society. Upset with how her driver was treating her since she’d left her husband and returned to Ho, Afi decided to go to driving school. Even when Efi forbade her from doing it, using her pregnancy as an excuse, she continued and got her driver’s license. After some time, she got a new driver as well. This is a novel where details about clothing and food fill almost every scene. As always when I read novels set in countries that are unfamiliar, I ended up searching out images of kente cloth ( a highly colourful textile made from strips of silk and cotton with handwoven cloth) and Slit (a long fitted skirt which hugs the body) and the top called a Kaba. The combinations of patterns and colours are stunning.