<i>“It made me grow up when I should have had more time. It made my dad overlook me when I was a child, my mum leave me behind, and my brother get away with doing the bare minimum. It made me lonely and it made me sad. It made me responsible and guilty. It made me someone, if given the choice, I wouldn’t want to be.”</i>

Maddie's family is anything but conventional. Her mother spends most of her time in Ghana managing her family's business. Her brother travels for work and is too busy living his life to help out at home. That leaves 25 year old Maddie to juggle a full time job while also living at home and caring for her father who has late stage Parkinson's.

When her mother returns to London after her most recent time in Ghana, she encourages Maddie to move out and experience life. Having been forced to take on huge responsibilities from such a young age, Maddie has lived a rather sheltered life. As she moves into her first flat, she is faced with a lot of freedom and new experiences both good and bad.

<b>Maame</b> is one of those quietly profound books that sneaks up on you. This is a slower paced story with excellent characterization. It is both sad and hopeful at the same time. Maddie is such an authentic character who is fleshed out so well throughout the pages. She is bright, loving, naive, and a giver through and through even to her detriment at times. The story is told in first-person narrative allowing the reader to really get to know Maddie. I felt her struggles and her triumphs. I loved her inner dialogue and her numerous Google searches. I rooted for her from start to finish.

So many topics are addressed in this book including the complexities of family dynamics and cultural influences, depression, guilt, grief, and racism. The writing is beautiful and the topics are handled realistically and with care. This is a wonderful debut and I really look forward to reading more Jessica George. 4 stars.

This a well written coming of age novel. You really feel for the burdens Maddie has had to bear at such a young age. The sections dealing with her grief were especially poignant. It had more sexual content than I care for. Not totally for me but I can see why it resonated with so many.

Loving every minute of this book! I feel like i am right there! Can picture it all and would be a great movie! Good book club discussions and a definite recommend to all ages

Loved this book. Could really identify with Maddie’s struggle to find herself in her mid 20s. Beautiful depiction of grief and the irrational feelings that sometimes come with it.

This was always going to be a bit of a tough sell for me because bildungsromans irritate me pretty quickly (lol), but Maddie won me over as a protagonist. She's impossible not to like, as well as to relate to. Despite having entirely different lives, I related to a lot of things about her at that age. She's someone you want to give a hug, be friends with, and ultimately cheer for. George's writing of her is what carried this entire novel.

"Maame" is very of its time and manages to capture some of the really relatable and frustrating things about 21st century life. It also does a great job at pulling at the heartstrings and giving some real emotional depth. There were some elements of the book I found vaguely unrealistic/too predictable - I felt the "hooking up with the perfect guy Sam and starting to finally love sex" thing as well as the "I asked my white boss who stole my ideas for more responsibility and she promoted me" thing required a bit of a suspension of disbelief - but not enough to truly bother me/take away from my overall satisfaction with the novel.

As a reader, this one left me feeling really full, which is a lovely feeling.

This was quite the buzzy book this past month. It felt like almost everyone was reading it, and for good reason. Maddie, or Maame as her family calls her, is a bit of a late bloomer. She’s spent the last few years caring for her disabled father and when she’s given the chance to live on her own, she takes it. So much of Maddie’s naivete and innocence was familiar to me, and I loved getting a peek inside her head as she discovered her independence. There was also wonderful mental health representation, and a very realistic look at what it can be like to struggle with your family and where you come from. For fans of Queenie and Skye Falling.

I loved this book. I loved the character Maddie ie; Maame. Maame stands for woman in Twi. Maddie is the strong woman in her family. Her Mom is always helping in Ghana instead of helping with her husband who has Parkinson's disease. She lets Maame take care of him. James the brother is also an absent son. He rarely visits his Dad. When Maddie's mom finally comes home to resume responsibility of her dad, she takes the opportunity to move to an apartment and start living. She is 25 years old and has given the last 6 years to her dad. She is a very giving, people pleasing person. She gets fired from a horrible job where she does nothing but have to take care of an anxiety ridden boss. She finds a job with a publishing company. She is an admin assistant but has fresh ideas and her employer and employees like her. A tragedy happens and Maddie becomes very depressed. She has struggled with mental illness for a while but never really understood what was happening to her. She tries dating, living on her own and making her own money and you can see how she grows and develops into a beautiful person. The author has written the book from Maddie's POV and it is fresh, hopeful, funny at times, and heartbreaking at other times. It is a book you keep reading to finish but are very sad when you are done with it. I highly recommend this great debut novel.
Thanks to #netgalley, #stmartinspress and @jessicabgeorge for an ARC of this book

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: January 31, 2023

A belated coming of age story that I found equal parts sweet, heartfelt, and frustrating. Maddie is 25 years old and lives at home taking care of her father who has Parkinson’s, as her mother is in Ghana running a hostel. Upon her mother’s return, Maddie takes the leap and finally moves out to live on her own and this book takes us on her journey to figure it all out—family, work, friendships, dating, etc. While many parts are charming and relatable, I struggled with how much she googled things. I couldn’t tell if it was because she truly didn’t know these things or if it was fueled by anxiety to just confirm she did know these things. I realized my bias to her naïveté and was proud of her growth through this! I enjoyed reading this author and will again in the future!

Maame is a coming-of-age/finding-yourself story focused on Maddie and her life.
The writer's voice is unique and distinguished. I loved how Maddie spoke to the reader, she has gentle sarcasm and sharp humor, and you can't help but like her immediately.
The biggest thing missing for me was the lack of introduction to Ghanaian culture. I understand that Maddie distanced herself from it, but it would have been beneficial to learn about it from her childhood instead of repetitive information about how her mother was leaving. I think that would have helped us understand her naivety and how she sees the world better. Because of that, the middle of the book did not work for me at all, it felt like I was reading the same thing over and over again. However, it picked up after the major event in the book, and from that point on I was not able to put the book down.
The resolution felt rushed, I wanted an epilogue that was further in time. I wanted to check in on Maddie, and see if she reached her dreams and goals.
In the end, this was an amazing debut. I can clearly see how talented author is and I would absolutely read their next book.

Maddie is a 25-year-old Ghanaian woman living in London with her father, who has advanced-stage Parkinson's disease. Since her mother spends most of her time in Ghana running a hostel (but still tries to control Maddie's life), and her brother is gallivanting across the globe living his own life, Maddie is her father's primary caretaker. Between caring for her father and dealing with an unreasonable boss at work, Maddie doesn't have much time for herself.

When her mom returns from Ghana, Maddie jumps at the chance to leave her family home and finally start living her own life. But her sheltered upbringing hasn't prepared her for the realities of single life in London, from dealing with roommates, to navigating the baffling world of dating, to having her work accomplishments overlooked. At least Google has all the answers...until tragedy strikes, and Maddie feels more adrift than she ever has before.

With vibrant, perceptive storytelling, Maame is a belated-coming-of-age story that reads like a love letter to every 20-something woman trying to find her place in the world. Jessica George's debut novel deals with relevant themes in profound, heartfelt ways: familial duty, sexuality, racism, navigating grief, depression, female friendship, and the impact of cultural expectations and traditions on family dynamics. There are moments of wit and wisdom in equal balance, in a book that tenderly celebrates the joyful mess that is self-discovery.

George has so much love for her protagonist, and it's impossible not to love Maddie right along with her. Maddie is naïve and inexperienced, but in a way that made me root for her instead of annoyed me. She is so endearing and sweet, so smart and kind, and her struggles are real and relatable. I wanted to give her the biggest hug and was genuinely invested in her story as she navigated the pitfalls of her new adult life. She reminded me a bit of Bridget Jones, but with more emotional depth and sweetness. Her relationship with her father is so touching, and that aspect of her story resonated with me on a personal level since I recently lost my dad.

I listened to Maame as an audiobook, and I highly recommend experiencing the book this way. The narrator is Heather Agyepong, who brings Maddie's voice brilliantly and vividly to life. Maame was just a stunning reading experience overall, and I can't wait to read whatever Jessica George writes next.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this new novel.

Soooo... I'm definitely an outlier in my opinions about this book if you see to all the rave reviews it have gotten. This book reminded me a lot about The Girl with the Loud Voice that was published a few years ago. It had the same naive, intolerable protagonist that seems to have been living in a cave until the story started.

Maddie has been at the university for four years but have to google when to sleep with your date? Everything about this book irked me to no end except her grief regarding her fathers condition. That felt real and gripping, how she took care of him.

Maame is a beautifully, quiet debut centered around 25 year old, Maddie. Her mother and brother carry on with their lives and leave her in London to care for her father who suffers from Parkinson's disease. When her mother returns home after a year away in Ghana Maddie finally gets a chance to live a life of her choosing. This is her belated coming of age story. I really enjoyed this character driven novel. It was easy to root for Maddie as she found her voice and gained her independence.

“Maame” started off a bit slow, but after a few chapters, I found this book to be charming, very funny, and quite relatable. This book has a little bit of everything romance, friendships, race analysis, while also dealing with grief in a thoughtful way. I’m a bit surprised that this book could pack such a punch, while still being interesting. The protagonist was likeable and at times during her most embarrassing moments, I felt like I was looking in a mirror, 😂. There were literally a few moments where I laughed out loud. This may be my favorite read of 2023 so far. I can’t wait to read what Jessica George writes next. I really liked this book, 4 stars ✨!

📚 Book Review 📚

#maame
#jessicageorge
#generalfiction
#blackauthor
#stmartinspress
#NetGalley published 1/31/2023

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

I loved the voice of the author right from the first paragraph! JG is a British writer of Ghanaian decent. First generation British. The author obviously wrote about a subject she knows a bit about. The MC of this book is also first generation British whose parents are Ghanaian. She seems to not really ever fit in. But now she has a chance to reinvent herself after years of caring for her father with Parkinsons single handedly for the past decade.

She gets freedom and experiences so many firsts. Too many first all at one time. Worse than the average college freshman. She reinvents herself a few times before the book is done. She has not lived an easy life. But hopefully come the end of the book her life will go much more smoothly.

I wish I could tell you more but I'm afraid to give stuff away. I just loved the book from beginning to end. I'm ashamed to say this is only the 3rd book that I have read by an African author. And I have loved all 3! I think I'm going to seek out more by African authors.

This is a stand alone book. But I wouldn't mind reading a sequel to see if the MC does manage to straighten out her life.

#womensfiction
#africanauthor
#bookstagram #bookreview #bookrecommendation #booknerdsbookreview #recommend #gottareadthisbook

Maddie is struggling: at work, with her relationship with her mother, and as her father's caretaker. She decides to take a step toward independence and move out into a shared apartment. She finds a new job and starts dating, but as she starts to get her feet under her, tragedy strikes. She's forced to reckon with her relationship with her mother as she deals with grief. It's a poignant yet funny exploration of a woman trying to find herself.

✨ Review ✨ Maame by Jessica George; Narrated by Heather Agyepong

Wow, was this a beautifully written debut and coming of age story! Maddie's a mid-20s woman caring for her father with Parkinsons -- she has a job that's not pleasant; her mom and brother are absent and not much help, and she just seems to be getting older without having any fun. When her mom comes to town, she takes the opportunity to move out into a shared flat, gets a new job after getting fired, starts dating, and explores ways to find out who she really is.

The book delves into topics of family and responsibility, love and dating and sex, friendship and support, career growth and stagnation, and so much more. As Maddie learns from her choices and mistakes throughout the book, she comes to a better understanding of who she is and who she wants to be.

This book will make you feel all the feelings -- you'll be ready to throw your book at the wall, you'll "awwww" at sweet moments, and you'll be cheering for her as grows. It's really a lovely book, with short snappy chapters, thoughtful writing, and feels fairly fast-paced. Definitely check this out if you like literary fiction, coming of age books.

I alternated between reading and listening to this book and both were great ways to engage -- I loved the narration, but the book includes lists and google searches and non-narrative pieces that take some getting used to before jumping into audio.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5)
Genre: literary fiction, women's fiction, coming-of-age
Location: London
Reminds me of: Wahala (less mean girls) and Yinka (less focused on finding on huzband)
Pub Date: January 31, 2023

Read this if you like:
⭕️ mid-twenties coming-of-age stories
⭕️ messy family structures; extended Ghanian families
⭕️ Feeling Feelings

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and #netgalley for an advanced copies of this book (physical and audio)!

Maddie is a 25 year old woman who spent her entire childhood being sheltered by her parents and her entire adulthood taking care of her father who has Parkinson’s disease. With her mother spending most of her time in Ghana and her brother spending most of his time traveling for work Maddie is the person who holds their household together and takes responsibility for caring for her father. When she’s 25 her mother returns from Ghana, and Maddie is excited to move out and start living a “real” adult life. This book is about Maddie trying to break away from her family while also trying to come to terms with some of the difficulties she had to deal with while growing up with them.

I’ve seen a lot of people say that Maddie’s level of naïveté is unrealistic. I’m just going to assume that those people have never met anyone who had no freedom until their mid twenties. I thought Maddie was a great portrayal of a late bloomer. Every book I’ve ever read that focused on a list of experiences the main character wanted to have to feel more mature has always been about teenagers (“things to do before I start high school!” “Things to do before I graduate from high school!”), so it was refreshing to watch an adult try to do the same thing. I like Maddie as a character and I was always rooting for her. I hate her family, but I think it was intentional on Jessica George’s part to give Maddie an unlikable family that Maddie still seeks approval from. I think a lot of people will be able to relate to that experience.

My biggest complaint is that I don’t like how much Maddie’s “adulthood” focused on her love life. I do appreciate that the entire book spent a lot of time on her relationships with her family, her friends, and her potential love interests, but I think it could’ve spent slightly less time on the love interests. And although this is not at all a flaw on the book’s part, the hype surrounding Maame made me think it would be better than it is. It’s a good book. But it didn’t stand out all that much to me.

I do recommend that you read Maame. It’s one of those books that somehow manages to be both lighthearted and fun and heavy and sad, and it has a fairly likable main character. So I think a lot of people will find something to love in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advance electronic copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

This was a book I wished I had the audio version of, just so I would know how to properly pronounce the title. I’m still not positive I have it right.

It was a wonderful story—about family, and duty, and loss, and fitting in, and standing up for yourself, and relationships, and even mental health and racial issues.

Maddie, called Maame by her mother, is in her twenties, living in London, and taking care of her father. He suffers from Parkinson’s, and her mother and brother are far too busy with their own lives (her mother living in Ghana every other year) to help out in any meaningful way, so she puts her own life on hold, working at a job she hates, to do what is expected.

When her mother comes back into the picture, Maddie moves out into a shared flat and tries to recreate herself, but taking care of others has not really prepared her to take care of herself. A series of new challenges and loss take their toll. To take care of herself, Maddie will need to learn how to stand up for herself, and to find love, she must recognize where the love in her life comes from.

Maddie’s journey was a powerful one. I saved this book to read during Black History Month. While race was not the primary theme of the story, it was a significant underlying element, which for me, made this book even more important. Jessica George is definitely an author to watch!

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️


Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC! Loved this story. Great character development. A story you don't want to stop reading. It grabs hold of you from the very beginning. Author is a fabulous story teller.
Highly recommend!

Don’t Judge. That is the biggest take away from this book. Oh, and be ready to fall madly in love with Maddie, the main character - Oh, she is such a young, young woman!

The story of Maddie, who cares for her father who is chronically ill, whose mother is gone most of the time to Ghana, living her own life, whose brother dumps all responsibility on Maddie, who wants a career and is not sure how to step into it, who wants love and gets all tangled up in how to be a sexual being, who struggles with anxiety and depression and doesn’t recognize it, who shows one face to the world and another to herself.

Be patient with this book. The story beautifully builds Maddie and her world, and if you’re of a ‘mature’ age like me, you will at times be impatient with her, you will judge her choices, you will be torn in how you feel about her. Be patient, trust me.

This is one complicated, compelling, lovable, exasperating, darling young woman and oh my, how hard I fell in love with her.

And the audio from @librofm is FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC!