Straight into the Wedding Day and all is ensuing preparations, we meet Alfi who is to be married to Eli, a well of Ghanaian man. however, it is a wedding with a difference as the groom is absent, abroad on business. It is his brother who acts as his proxy. Following the wedding Ali is whisked away to live in a fabulous apartment, with her own driver. Alfi is aware that Eli has a relationship with another woman and a daughter with her. However, Eli's family believe that Alfi will be enough to lure him out of this besotted relationship which they regard as unsuitable. The story follows Alfi and her development with his family, her family, her husband and friends as she becomes more independent in this complicated set up. Highly enjoyable and insightful.

I really enjoyed the setting of this and the overall story. Part of me wanted it to be the easy happy ending but I think the way it was done made it a better book.

‘Elikem married me in absentia; he did not come to our wedding.’

Afi is a young girl from a small town in Ghana. She lives with her widowed mother and they both work just about enough to make ends meet. Although theirs is an extended family, they are not so close now after Afi's father passes away. Afi has a talent in sewing and her mother gets help from their wealthy benefactress. One day Afi gets a proposal for marriage to Elikem Ganyo and her life takes an unexpected turn. Elikem Ganyo is a rich, successful businessman who can give Afi a life of every girl's dream. However, Eli's affections are preoccupied with 'the other woman'. Soon after stepping into her marriage, Afi starts to question her choices as she is forced to live up to the role as a wife, daughter and daughter-in-law.

I love reading books whose storytelling feels effortless. This book is one of them. 𝙋𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝘼𝙙𝙯𝙤 𝙈𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙚 has elegantly written this life transforming novel which screams independence and self worth. We get to see Afi, a young naive girl desperate to own her marriage, obeying the duties of a daughter slowly rising above the challenges to build her self image. I loved the narration of Afi's emotions as she started learning her self worth, and her determination to further her talent. The book highlights the lives of Ghanaian women dealing with patriarchy and also its implication on modern women. The concept of rich, successful men being controlled by family and the choice of money over love and loyalty felt genuine even in today's world. I was immersed in the story right from the first line. This book has everything - interesting characters, love and heartbreak, a touch of fun and entertainment and the perfect ending. It is so easily captivating and an excellent debut.
Thank you to NetGalley and Oneworld Publications for this e-arc.

This book starts right in the action, Efi is young, naive and eager to please her family. She is being married into a powerful local family although her wedding takes place a little differently given the groom isn’t in attendance. Eli is already in a relationship with a woman his family do not approve of and they are placing all their hopes in this arranged marriage to Efi that he will leave the other woman and fall in line with their expectations.

Efi as a character is absolutely brilliant, you see a coming of age journey for her which is extremely well written. Although she is very obviously being used as a pawn by Eli’s family, she does fall in love with Eli and begins to discover her own self worth and need to be his only wife.

I absolutely loved this book! Medie’s writing is some of the best I’ve read, I loved how she explored themes of culture balance, rights and feminism throughout whist writing an excellent coming of age story.

I got this as review copy from @netgalley and @oneworldpublications and this is why I love getting books to review. It’s finding these absolute gems, so many thanks for agreeing to send this to me! His Only Wife was published last week and I highly recommend it.

I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Oneworld Publications, and the author Peace Adzo Medie.
This was an enjoyable read. It was especially interesting to read and learn about Ghanaian culture and tradition, which is a huge part of the story.
A short and easy read, and I have to agree with one of my other reviewers, it is perfectly summed up as 'engaging and breezy'. Not a huge amount of substance and there was potential for the story to be developed a lot further.
A perfect read for holiday or the beach. 3 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and The Publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an quick entertaining easy read. prefect for the beach or to take you mind off the crazy times we are living in.

Gripping from the opening line , I couldn't put it down. Unfortunately, I found the main character very naïve and couldn't sympathise or empathise with her plight, although she did come good in the end. However, I do recommend this book and think it would make a fantastic book club pick.

A gorgeous story with everything going for it!

Afi is seventeen and lives with her mother; both working, they scrape a living but still depend on the kindness of others. When she is given the opportunity to marry into a wealthy family, offering the end of all their worries. Elikem Ganyo is a very eligible bachelor and marriage will give Afi access to all the things she has always dreamed of - however, all that glitters is not gold as she is about to find out.

Oh, where do I start with this one? A truly captivating read which pulled me in from the first words, this is a carefully thought out story with lots of fun, laughter and angst along the way. To the outsider, Afi's new life is what every young girl desires but, behind the scenes, there are a lot of highs and lows. Painted with a light touch, the characters are appealing, entertaining and vivid. I loved everything about it and by the end everything was neatly explained and tidied away - just as I like it. A fabulous read which I'm delighted to recommend and give a full house of stars. Peace Adzo Medie is definitely an author to keep an eye on!

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.

Great writing, and a great, well-paced story! His Only Wife explores modern day polygamy in Ghana and the expectations and restrictions that still exist for women. The characters balance cultural norms and societal expectations with patriarchy and self-actualisation. There's a great storyline too, with just the right amount of drama.

I found myself really rooting for Afi throughout the book, even while I (mistakenly) sympathised with Eli. To me the ending was a happy one, indicative of a woman's strength overcoming a man's sense of entitlement.

This book follows Afi who lives in a small town in Ghana until one day she is offered a life-changing opportunity - a marriage proposal from Eli's family. She reluctantly goes along with the wedding and on the special day learns that Eli will not even be attending, sending a stand-in instead. Weeks after marriage, she is taken to live in a fancy apartment in Accra where she eventually meets her husband. Afi learns why she the family approached her with the marriage proposal: Eli is in love with another woman (a woman who has had his children) who the family disapprove of, using Afi as a way to try to draw him away from the woman into a happy marriage. Afi starts to fall in love with Eli but still feels second best to the other woman. She builds a life of her own in Accra, including a business and growing independence but she is still not happy. Will her marriage succeed or will she be doomed to be the other woman who he comes home late to forever.

I enjoyed this book and found exploring the polyamorous relationships Eli and many men in Ghana have very interesting. The expectations on women are very traditional (cooking and cleaning, raising children and meeting their husbands every need) and seeing Afi's struggles of trying to perform the role she had been raised and pressured to do when living in a posh household with people hired to do every role for them was powerful as it showed how powerless this made Afi feel at first. Afi has pressure from everyone to 'win' Eli and when that doesn't seem to be working, faces more and more problems from those who have high expectations on her. I also really liked seeing Afi take her life into her control even when her family told her not to in order to build herself a successful career. Her mother is very traditional and so Afi showing that woman can be businesswomen and not have to bow to their husbands every need showed the cultural changes that were occuring in the next generation.

Afi isn't afraid to stand up for what she believes in or to fight for what she wants, especially when she learns she is pregnant and wants the best for her unborn child. Eli's excuse for everything he does throughout the book is surrounding his daughter, but now Afi has a chance to argue the same thing: the flat isn't big enough to raise their child, their child should see their father daily not when he feels like turning up. Eli clearly doesn't like being told what to do by Afi (especially when she takes off home to make a point) but as a father wants the best for his child and so not-so-secretly seems to agree with Afi.

The ending of this book shows that women do not have to settle into a relationship they are unhappy in, even if a child is involved. Afi is perfectly capable of raising her child alone and her only request is that their child is not around the other woman. Even when she ends the relationship, Eli tries to make them live in a house he owns (claiming he doesn't want his child living in a workshop) but Afi stands up for herself and makes it clear that she wants a clean break; anywhere she lives or anything she owns will be in her name and purchased using her money. Afi is clearly hurting knowing that she couldn't win Eli's heart but ultimately knows that she never will and that in his mind, he already met the woman to be his only wife and it wasn't her.

Overall I enjoyed this book and I would be interested in reading future books by this author, or books of a similiar theme.

I very much enjoyed reading His Only Wife. Set in Ghana, it follows the story of Afi who finds herself the sort-of-willing participant in an arranged marriage.

The light-hearted tone, often wry observations and zippy pace meant I effortlessly read this book, even though the story was one that left me with raised eyebrows as it is set in a culture very different from mine, where women are still expected to, essentially, know their place. Therein lies the crux of this story.

The opening sentence sets the scene nicely – Afi’s husband doesn’t actually bother attending their wedding. If you are wondering how this can possibly be legal, it is a traditional wedding, rather than one with a marriage certificate. The traditional wedding also means men can have more than one wife (women cannot have more than one husband).

Afi’s is chosen by her new husband’s mother as an ideal solution to a problem. The problem being that Eli is in a relationship (and has a child) with a woman who refuses to play be the rules society demands of her, she won’t change her life to become a dutiful wife and won’t bend to the demands of her potential mother-in-law. So Afi is drafted in to keep Eli on the right path and be a textbook dutiful wife.

This is something Afi struggles with and it is her character development that makes the story such a joy to read. She has a passion for making clothes and wants to be a designer, she has friends she enjoys socialising with, she has her own strong will and ideas and this is something she has to balance against the way she was raised – to pretty much fulfil the achievement of becoming a good, dutiful wife.

His Only Wife was a glimpse into a different culture for me and Afi was the true star of this read. She understands what is expected of her within her culture, while not being scared to question it and never forgetting that she is allowed to have her own happiness too. She is not just there to fulfil the traditional subservient role of a woman.

Effortless to read, the plot was enticing and threw a few curve balls to keep things interesting. No spoilers, but I’m very glad this book ended the way it did – it set the final defiant note perfectly.

A totally engaging and absorbing book about Afi Tekple, married against her wishes to a wealthy man, who is not even present at their wedding. I loved the story of Afi; she is a totally believable character, who tries to make sense of her new life and the various pressures from those around her. As Afi grows and learns to stand up for herself as a woman, we are swept along with her story. I really loved this book.

“Please, put love aside and be practical. Love will not put food on the table; it won’t hold you at night.”- Peace Adzo Medie

His Only Wife had me hooked me from the very first line: “Elikem married me in absentia; he did not come to our wedding.” The groom didn't attend the wedding and got his brother to stand in for him?! I was so ready to see what happens next!
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The premise of the story is that Afi, a young seamstress from a rural town in Ghana 🇬🇭 is selected by her family’s wealthy benefactors to marry their favourite son, Eli, who’s involved with a woman they do not approve of. Afi is to replace her, and bring Eli back into the fold of the Ganyo family.
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There is a lot of discussion in this book about what a 'good wife' is meant to be and how she is meant to behave. At the beginning of Afi and Eli's marriage, Afi is alone in the flat his family owns and Eli is very much absent. She's under a lot of pressure from her mother and Eli's mother to 'keep her husband'. It's so stressful for Afi and my heart really ached for her. She was constantly trying to meet her mothers expectations as well as fulfil her role as a wife without any consideration of what she wanted or what made her happy.
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I read this book as part of a read along months ago- I don't know why it's taken me so long to post this review🤷🏽‍♀️! We had a lively conversation discussing this one! We talked about themes such as polygamy and if it's possible to be emotionally involved with 2 people at the same time. Or is it just greedy?! Also how our perceptions of what a relationship is meant to be is determined by our upbringing and our culture- in the West we marry for love but it's not uncommon for people to marry for reasons other than love in other parts of the world- who are we to say whats right? What do you think? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
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Absolutely loved getting a small glimpse of another culture through this book. Even though I enjoyed it for the most part, I wasn't convinced with how quickly Afi went from meek and mild to fierce and feisty- but maybe that's just me? 4/5 ⭐️

Thank you to @netgalley for my copy of this book

I started reading this book after seeing a review that said it was like 'Crazy Rich Asians' for West Africa with a good splash of feminism - that is right up my alley so how could I not get excited.

And I'm even happier that I was not disappointed. Some might read Afi as an unlikeable, stubborn and ungrateful character but I definitely didn't feel that way. This was a real coming of age story and I always love reading any novel with a strong female character who stands up for what is best for herself and will not compromise on her needs.

The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars is because I wanted a little more in terms of some of the events and interactions, I felt they could have been fleshed out a little more, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the easy writing style. I also thought the characters were very well developed.

I am definitely excited to read more books by the author, Peace Adzo Medie!

Thank you Netgalley and OneWorld Publications for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

An engrossing debut novel. This domestic novel looks at the lives of women in Ghana and focuses on the patriarchal structures that consume them. The prose is incredibly readable and compelling

It’s Afi’s wedding day and she’s marrying someone she doesn’t know. Although she is a skilled seamstress, until this proposal, she didn’t really think her life was going anywhere. Now she has a husband and his wealth, things will only get better. Except...except it doesn’t. The reality of being married to Elikem doesn’t seem to be what she signed up for and before very long she starts to question her decision.

Peace Adzo Medie has written a heart warming and funny book based on arranged marriages, family expectations and feminism. Although it is fairly light hearted, Medie created an authentically naive character out of Afi and her growth from this felt very real throughout. There are a wide variety of characters, who although aren’t explored deeply (it’s a fairly quick read), serve their purpose in examining the depth of family ties that this book centres itself around.

If you’re looking for something fun and easy to read, I’d recommend this one.

His Only Wife follows Afi as she is whisked away from a life where she struggles to get by by a proposal of marriage from the wealthy family of a man she barely knows. As a the book unfolds we find out more about why the family is so keen for her to marry Eli.

This book is a solid three stars for me. It was fun in places and I enjoyed learning more about Ghanaian culture through the setting of the novel. However, the characters felt underdeveloped and the pacing was quite slow, especially in the first quarter of the book.

The story panned out much as I guessed it would, and felt rather surface level in places.

This was a pleasant read and I enjoyed the setting of the story and descriptions of life in Ghana. This book is about Afi and her journey into marriage and all that it brings. The book opens with Afi on her wedding day and we quickly realise the absence of the groom on the wedding day is what we are to expect throughout the whole book. That is, Eli is going to remain absent and at arms lengths to Afi throughout her life.

Eli it turns out is already in a situation with another woman and the point of the marriage between him and Afi is to finally get rid of this woman. How does one get themselves into this situation? Well, following the death of Afi’s father, Afi and her mother find themselves at the mercy of her fathers’ family. And sadly, like a lot of families in Ghana, they are not really willing to help. So, the help falls to a local businesswoman, who helps a variety of people throughout the neighbourhood. Think just a fairy godmother but you have to do her favours instead. This lady is called Aunty throughout the book and it is her that proposes the union between Eli and Afi, and Afi’s mother helps Afi to see that this would be a good idea. Afi agrees after a while, the family does well, and marrying Eli would give her access to a world she would never see otherwise.

The story ensues from the marriage in chapter 1 and by chapter 3 Afi is living in an apartment in Accra, marveling at how different this place is from where she has lived previously. Lovely as the place is, the place is missing Eli and she still is confused about the situation and doesn’t understand why he isn’t living with her. The rest of the book explores the development of Afi and Eli’s relationship and tells us more about the other woman. In addition, we also get to see Afi blossom in her talents and make a career for herself. Afi, although inexperienced in dealing with many things in life, is bold, fierce, and unrelenting in demanding the life she believes she deserves. Time after time she demonstrates courage by standing up to Eli and his mother and explaining why what people are doing to her isn’t fair. And this is admirable and it’s wonderful to see her fiercely standing up for herself, so I completely understand the tying in of this book to feminism and just regular old rights.

However, I have several issues with this book. The first is the feminism aspect it leans to feels, in a way, backward. Afi’s sole purpose is to be Eli’s only wife and that is bloody irritating. Not to establish an actual relationship (although I feel this was what she hoped would happen naturally), but just to be his only wife because that is what she wants. For me, I was just aghast at all the push for what seemed to me, a very useless man. There were so many elements to have chosen, but Afi’s fight for Eli was simply because she was promised by the family that he would her husband, which was bizarre to me. She didn’t even know Eli, she had previously spent one day in his company when she was a teenager. So, I couldn’t fathom why the book wasn’t about her apprehension of being married to someone she didn’t know vs wanting to be his only wife. Furthermore, Afi knew the situation of Eli and the other woman, so it was incredibly jarring to hear her be astounded that he hadn’t left the woman he loved. I know that Afi did not sign up for an entanglement but it made her sound like a petulant child, constantly going on about it. In fairness, I think this all pointed to her naivety and we do know her life experience before was quite sheltered, but I felt if the author wanted to link her sheltered life to her expectations of marriage, it should have been handled better. As a result, Afi just sounds like a brat. It pains me to say because I sound just like those aunties lool who will always be like “he doesn’t beat you etc” and that’s definitely not what I’m saying. But I feel because I’m not on Afi’s side the only one I do fall into is that of the aunties who are like “what is the problem here??”

I think the one thing the book fails to tackle at all is the element of money in this situation. Afi has married into money, as a result, she’s able to live a more lavish life. Now don’t get me wrong, Afi isn’t a golddigger, and really to her, the money doesn’t matter. But she does use the money she gets from Eli to further her passion for sewing and eventually profits from it. She lives in a house paid for by him, everything she does is paid for by him. In so many ways her freedom is paid for by Eli and his family. This is why it’s great that she defies them for the marriage she wants but we never hear any of this talked about in regards to what Eli's money has afforded her. It poses a lot of questions and I think it’s a shame the author didn’t explore this. One character explicitly states: “Please, put love aside and be practical. Love will not put food on the table; it won’t hold you at night.” And I have to agree with them, and specifically for Afi in this book. She never contends with the fact she is comfortable now and in this case, she cannot have both. Afi never really acknowledges this in the book and I think this would have been the issue to focus on and tease out. In a way I get it, Afi is young, and knowing about the headache that comes with relationships/marriage is something you gain from experience. So the money option isn’t a huge deal, but you read this book and just think, ‘woman, you knew what you were walking into, use this financial freedom to build a life for yourself and exit this situation in a couple of years.’ It is so hard to feel sorry for our character moping about wanting to be a quote on quote ‘wife’ when the guy is giving her the scope to escape from that subservient role of just a ‘wife’. Afi is fighting Eli and his family, so she can go on to perform traditional wife duties!!! That complexity should have been explored more. I actually thought that’s where the story was going, especially when Afi regularly spoke to one of her friends and it seemed that this is naturally what they would end up fighting about.

Another issue for me is the relationship between Afi and Eli, I feel it’s very glossed over that this man essentially takes advantage of her, and yet she is still the one pining for him. Despite not knowing much about him, Afi welcomes him with open arms at every opportunity. There is never any character exploration of whether she does actually like Eli as a person, she never seems to question any other aspect of their life other than he doesn’t live with her and is spending his time with the other woman. She’s so focused on the marriage that I’m not even entirely sure she would like him once her sole goal of getting rid of the other woman was achieved. I think it’s hard for me to believe that this is worth fighting for when I don’t think Afi could have named five things she loves about Eli.

My final issue with the book is with other woman, who we do find out, is from Liberia and then just named as the Liberian woman. It’s so random loool because I have no idea what the country, she was from had to do with her attitude. Had I not known about the author’s ties to Liberia, I would be tempted to think it was shade. I think the author simply wanted to feature Liberia in the story somehow. Furthermore, the Liberian woman’s character seemed so wild and unbelievable. And I was surprised to find her painted as essentially a witch, in a book that is pushing a feminist standpoint, it just seemed at odds with the women standing strong motto in this book. I wish the book was told from a dual perspective, the other being from the Liberian woman. She was, after all the hated woman, with a husband who had married someone else to please his family. To me, that is wild and is worth exploring.

Whilst this wasn’t a stellar read for me, I appreciated this story for its portrayal of life in Ghana and showing just how tricky dealing with family is when it comes to marriage (Afi’s Uncle is by far the most irritating character in this).

This was a fun, fairly light-hearted story that I really enjoyed. I haven’t read much literature set in contemporary Ghana so I also found it genuinely informative. Afi’s transformation over the course of the novel from shy village girl who is at the mercy of powerful elders to successful career woman who can assert her own independence is hard won and feels fairly realistic, even though towards the end the novel does skip over large time periods. I was worried partway through about the direction it was taking but this is a proudly feminist novel on the whole and ensures that most of the characters aren’t just caricatures. An enjoyable read and I would recommend. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This is one of the funniest books I read this year! Absolutely hilarious. I love it when books like this come from African writers, it gives me so much joy. I'm definitely making my book club read this book, there is so much to talk about and dissect.
I'm not going to give the blurb away here because yáll obviously know what it is about but this book should be added to curriculums and MA reading lists.

Three words came to mind when I finished this novel and they are; hilarious, enlightening, and wholesome!

Loved it!

Loved the vivid characters. Loved Afi's progress from a 21 something who thinks everything is "supposed to function" in a particular way to a woman who wants to live life on her own terms. Wish the subplots were stronger, and the other woman (Eli's girlfriend and mother of his child) was more developed. Great debut that looks into patriarchy and women's roles. Full review in link