A review by serendipitysbooks
The Impatient by Djaïli Amadou Amal

dark emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

 The Impatient is a novel from Cameroon which explores the issues of polygamy and forced marriage through the experiences of three different women. The realities of not being permitted a choice in who you marry, in having your husband take another wife and being expected to welcome and train her, of arriving in a strange home and being subservient to and subject to the whims of a first wife who resents your presence, of having no rights or fallbacks if your husband becomes violent - all these and more are canvassed in this short but impactful story. The women resisted, fought back, and tried to gain agency, not always in admirable ways. But in a situation where they have no rights and no protections it is easy to see why they may have made the choices they did. A powerful read. 
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