The first part of the book shows Afi bewildered but dutiful. For readers of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Candice Carty-Williams, His Only Wife is the story of an indomitable and relatable heroine that illuminates what it means to be a woman in a rapidly changing world. But it is Accra that eventually wins Afi’s heart and gives her a life of independence that she never could have imagined for herself.Ī brilliant scholar and a fierce advocate for women’s rights, author Peace Adzo Medie infuses her debut novel with intelligence and humour. It turns out that he is in love with another woman, whom his family disapproves of Afi is supposed to win him back on their behalf. He sends a stand-in to his own wedding, and only weeks after Afi is married and installed in a plush apartment in the capital city of Accra does she meet her new husband. She acquiesces, but soon realizes that Elikem is not quite the catch he seemed. Then one day she is offered a life-changing opportunity-a proposal of marriage from the wealthy family of Elikem Ganyo, a man she doesn’t truly know.

She lives in a small town in Ghana with her widowed mother, spending much of her time in her uncle Pious’s house with his many wives and children. “Elikem married me in absentia he did not come to our wedding.”Īfi Tekple is a young seamstress whose life is narrowing rapidly. Here we are in the 21st century yet - if this book represents things as they are - then even in sophisticated modern cities in Ghana, women are still made miserable by African polygamous patriarchy, and senior women in extended families are complicit in perpetuating it. I was in the mood for a book that was ‘hilarious’, but TBH while there were some droll moments, I finished His Only Wife feeling more saddened than amused. The cover of my edition of His Only Wife by Ghanaian author Peace Adzo Medie includes comments from Wayetu Moore that it’s ‘ hilarious, a gem of a debut’ and from Kirkus Reviews that it’s ‘ a Crazy Rich Asians for West Africa, with a healthy splash of feminism.’ Cosmopolitan says it’s ‘a fierce and funny study of modern womanhood within Ghanaian culture’.

His only wife by peace adzo medie