Tag: literary fiction

Book Review – Stay With Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀

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About the Book

stay

Yejide is hoping for a miracle, for a child. It is all her husband wants, all her mother-in-law wants, and she has tried everything. But when her relatives insist upon a new wife, it is too much for Yejide to bear.

Unravelling against the social and political turbulence of 1980s Nigeria, Stay With Me is a story of the fragility of married love, the undoing of family, the power of grief, and the all-consuming bonds of motherhood. It is a tale about the desperate attempts we make to save ourselves, and those we love, from heartbreak.

Format: ebook (295 pages) Publisher: Canongate
Publication date: 2nd March 2017 Genre: Literary Fiction

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My Review

Yejide is smart, sassy, well-educated and runs her own business but she doesn’t have the one thing she desires and her family expect – a child.  The pressure to conform to the demands of her family and culture becomes unbearable for Yejide, creating strains in her marriage to Akin.  Akin is similarly pressurised by the expectations of his family, especially his mother.  This pressure results in actions that will have unintended and dramatic  consequences for Yejide and Akin, and for those around them. 

Told from the points of view of both Yejide and Akin and shifting between different time periods (which are sometimes difficult to keep track of), this is an assured debut novel that keeps the reader guessing.  The author deftly inserts several emotional bombshells at various points that change the tone and direction of the entire narrative.  However, there is also humour in the cast of supporting characters. 

There are fascinating insights into Nigerian/Yoruba culture such as the rituals of greeting, significance of naming and the importance of hierarchy within families (particularly in polygamous families).  An intimate family drama, the story plays out against the backdrop of  political events in Nigeria but these are very much secondary to the novel (unlike, say, in Half of a Yellow Sun). 

Listen to Ayòbámi talking about Stay With Me on BBC Radio 4’s Bookclub here.

I received an advance review copy courtesy Canongate Books via NetGalley

In three words: Moving, dramatic, assured
Try something similar: The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives by Lola Shoneyin

About the Author

Ayòbámi Adébàyò was born in Lagos, Nigeria. Her debut novel, Stay With Me, won the 9mobile Prize for Literature, was shortlisted for the Baileys Prize for Women’s Fiction, the Wellcome Book Prize and the Kwani? Manuscript Prize. It has been translated into twenty languages and the French translation was awarded the Prix Les Afriques. Longlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize and the International Dublin Literary Award, Stay With Me was a New York Times, Guardian, Chicago Tribune and NPR Best Book of the Year. Ayòbámi Adébàyò splits her time between Norwich and Lagos. (Photo: X profile)

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Book Review – The Fortunate Brother by Donna Morrissey

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About the Book

fortunate

After being uprooted from their fishing outport, the Now family is further devastated by the tragic loss of their eldest son, Chris, who died working on an Alberta oil rig. Kyle Now is still mourning his older brother when the murder of a local bully changes everything. The victim’s blood is found on the family’s pier, and suspicion falls first on an alienated wife, and then finally on the troubled Now family.

But behind this new turmoil, Chris’s death continues to plague the family. Father Sylvanus Now drowns his sorrow in a bottle, while mother Addie is facing breast cancer. And the children fight their own battles as the tension persists between Kyle and his sister, Sylvie, over her role in their brother’s death.

Format: Hardcover (272 pages) Publisher: Canongate
Publication date: 20th April 2017 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

I only realised this is the third in a three-volume series of books after I started to read it but I felt it worked well as a standalone read.  However, it made me curious to know more about the events that have brought the family to this point so I may well look out the previous two books. 

Initially, I thought this was going to be a depressing read because of the troubled nature of all the characters and it took me a while to get used to Morrissey’s writing style.  Not being familiar with Newfoundland culture, I can’t testify to the authenticity of the vocabulary and dialogue but it seemed right for the characters and pretty soon I adjusted to the rhythm.  

The story is a combination of family drama and murder mystery but the mystery element doesn’t feel tacked on because the way the various characters react to events (in particular the main protagonist, Kyle) seems believable given their state of mind. 

The unseen but ever present emotional heart of the book is Chris, Kyle’s brother, who has died in an oil rig accident before the book opens. In various ways, all the family are struggling to cope with their grief and/or guilt at his death.  In particular, Kyle, seen as the “fortunate brother” because he’s still alive. 

Morrissey adeptly plays out how the surviving family members are driving themselves apart when they are at greatest need of coming together: “Too isolated in their loneliness to feel the good still left to them.”  Although bleak at times, this was an engrossing read.

I received an advance review copy courtesy of Canongate Books via NetGalley.

In three words: Atmospheric, emotional, gritty

About the Author

Donna Morrissey is the award-winning author of Kit’s Law, Downhill Chance, What They Wanted, and Sylvanus Now, which was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. She grew up in The Beaches, a small fishing outport in Newfoundland & Labrador and now lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia. 

Connect with Donna
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