A review by monikapuff
Stay with Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀
5.0
This was a recommendation from a fellow bookstagrammer, and I inhaled this novel in five days, more or less.
I fell in love with Nigerian writing and culture thanks to Adichie and I was really happy that I found this debut novel. The way it is written from two points of view gives the complete picture of the events as we slowly read how they unfold, and the time skips left me waiting for the explanations. I found it heartbreaking that this is novel set less than forty years ago and that things like these still happen. Lives ruined becouse of the view that a woman is not a woman if she has no children and man not willing to admit his 'failiure' out of shame thanks to the norms. I love that Stay with me deals with feminist issues without pushing it into your face, and the societal norms are rotten. I understand that society is different in our culture and Nigeria, but even here, in so called western world, you can still hear the opinion that you need children to be a 'real' woman, a 'real' family. All the things Yejide and Akin did in order to fit, and the way someone, something punished them were heartbreaking.
And the addition of some political changes and issues just adds another layer to the story and reminds you that there is a world outside of the personal struggles and real life issues.
I fell in love with Nigerian writing and culture thanks to Adichie and I was really happy that I found this debut novel. The way it is written from two points of view gives the complete picture of the events as we slowly read how they unfold, and the time skips left me waiting for the explanations. I found it heartbreaking that this is novel set less than forty years ago and that things like these still happen. Lives ruined becouse of the view that a woman is not a woman if she has no children and man not willing to admit his 'failiure' out of shame thanks to the norms. I love that Stay with me deals with feminist issues without pushing it into your face, and the societal norms are rotten. I understand that society is different in our culture and Nigeria, but even here, in so called western world, you can still hear the opinion that you need children to be a 'real' woman, a 'real' family. All the things Yejide and Akin did in order to fit, and the way someone, something punished them were heartbreaking.
And the addition of some political changes and issues just adds another layer to the story and reminds you that there is a world outside of the personal struggles and real life issues.