4,5/5

Great debut novel! Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for the advanced copy!

Maddie or, as her mother calls her, Maame is a young Black girl struggling through her adult life with an ill father, an absent mother and a self-absorbed brother. She was left in charge for taking care of her father, who suffers from Parkinson's disease while her mother is in Ghana running a hostel that her grandfather left after he passed away. When Maddie's mother finally return to London she leaves her parent's house and finally feels she can start living her own life.

We rejoice, suffer, grief, exasperate, love and disappointed with Maddie, I honestly think that the author express all those feelings in such a way that feels that I went through with her as well. The book encapsulate a specific time frame from adulthood that moment that we actually are no longer teens but we don't see ourselves as adults as well, almost like a rite of passage, and above all, we are presented with the daily racism she suffers, all the microagressions from her flatmates, coworkers and the guys she dates.

I think I'm not expressing properly how I liked this book, ugh! All those scenes about her family, all the pain they inflict on her, that was so emotional, even raw. Anyway, I really recomend this book and a debut! I'll keep an eye for George's next realeses.

MAAME by Jessica George is an emotional and thought-provoking story of family, friendship, grief and love that kept me engrossed from beginning to end. It is told with compassion and humor while addressing many current and relevant themes such as dysfunctional family relationships, racism in the workplace, sexual exploration and finding your true identity. Twenty-five-year-old Maddie Wright is struggling with her life in London. The daughter of Ghanaian immigrants, she has been raised that family comes first, even if hers is dysfunctional. Her mother spends most of her time in Ghana, leaving Maddie as the sole caretaker for her father who has late-stage Parkinson’s Disease. Her brother also lives in London, but he always finds reasons not to help. Even her job, where she has been forced into a low-level administrative role, is a constant source of angst. When her mother comes back to London for a visit, Maddie takes the opportunity to move into a shared flat and start experiencing things most women her age take for granted. But when tragedy strikes, Maddie is left to question everything about her family and her own life. At times both heartbreaking and funny, the reader is drawn into every one of Maddie’s struggles. Her journey to self-discovery is authentic and relatable on so many levels. I found myself engrossed in the story and cheering Maddie on at every turn. I really enjoyed this heart-wrenching, yet uplifting story and highly recommend it. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read and review an early copy.

This book is interesting. While I can't relate to a lot, there was enough that I could relate too and I loved Maddies voice and storytelling enough time stay interested. This is dark and doesn't pretend not to be, but there's just enough hope. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 if you're in for a heavy read, you'll like this.

Maddie [or “Maame” (Ma-Meh)] is a mid-twenties British Ghanaian woman who lives at home, limiting her growth and opportunities to care for her father, who has Parkinson’s disease. Despite living in Ghana for long stretches of time, her mother manages to be overbearing and directive. Maddie just wants to catch up to where she “should” be at her age but depends mainly on Google for advice.

MAAME s a painfully emotional book, but worthwhile as it deals with grief, race, sexuality, and familial guilt. I was uncomfortable reading it - I had so much sympathy for Maddie, but her poor/uninformed decisions (fueled by her isolation) hurt my heart. Maybe I’m too old for “coming of age” stories. Or at least for this age: a woman in her 20s navigating the minefield of modern dating and expectations. I cringed and ached for Maddie but remained hopeful her resilience, wit, and intelligence would see her through.

Thanks, NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Jessica George, for the Digital Review Copy of MAAME. US Pub Date: 31 Jan 2023

3.5 STARS

Maddie’s life so far in London has been as the primary caregiver for her very ill father and working at a job that is crushing her soul where she is the only person of color. Maddie’s mother, who should be more responsible, spends a year at a time in Ghana running a family business while her older brother is too busy to help out. When her mother finally returns home, Maddie moves out for the first time to a flatshare, finds a new job after being unfairly fired, and has a list of things she wants to try.

Another first for Maddie is dating because she has not had a boyfriend since high school and now in her mid-twenties, she feels far behind in the dating game. She is new to any kind of adult relationship and so does not know what to expect or how to act. When she suffers a major loss, Maddie not only does not know how to cope, but she is still trying to learn how to live away from home and navigate new responsibilities and challenges. Maddie’s Ghanaian background is often times at odds with living in London especially since her overbearing mother only seems to criticize Maddie and point out her shortcomings. Maddie realizes that sometimes close friends can love you more than family and that it is okay to lean on those people in times of trouble. She also tries to navigate life by looking to Google for answers which is rarely helpful and often ridiculous as one would expect.

Learning to cope with her new world paradigm, Maddie realizes she is tired of being a doormat for her family and that though resistant, needs help with her deep depression. While some parts of this book seem almost morose, there is enough humor to lighten the load and give peeks to a more hopeful future for a young woman who has assumed much more burdens than is usual for her age. She deals not only with grief and loss, but racism, the difficulties of internet dating, and learning to find her voice to ask for what she wants at work and her personal relationships. Even with all the complications she experiences and being a late bloomer, Maddie perseveres realizing that she deserves to live her best life despite all the hardships and learning to live independently.

This was a book that really made me feel all the motions. There are times that it made me laugh, cry, be angry, happy, embarrassed, and uplifted at the end. There are a lot of great messages throughout as well.

Maddie is in her twenties and has focused her life on her dad, who has Parkinson’s. Her mother, whom I dislike, leaves for a year at a time. She leaves Maddie in charge of everything, the bills, her dad’s care, and running the household. Maddie is telling her that she can’t anymore. She’s hit a wall. She’s tired of doing it all and paying for everything on her own. When Maddie’s mom comes back she’s moving out on her own, for the first time.

This is where we go on a coming-of-age journey with Maddie. She’s new to it all and navigating her way and there are a lot of setbacks. She has to go through these growing pains but it makes the story all that real. In real life, there are a lot of things that don’t work out. I was surprised by how many un-likable characters there are in this one. I guess that’s also like real life. Don’t worry, there are many amazing characters that you will love. There are times that the story slowed down and all the google searches and answers threw me off. I know that we all go to google for things but it was a little much.

There are a lot of heartbreaking moments but it makes the end really uplifting. To see where she starts and how she ends up is really inspiring. I loved the fact that there’s some therapy in this book. It really is important to take care of your mental health! Finding your voice can be hard and we need all the help we can get!

Overall, I think this was a really strong debut! There’s a lot of emotion and it has a powerful message. Maddie’s journey isn’t easy but I think it makes it relevant. I’m sure there are a lot of readers that will relate to her story.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press & Netgalley for an e-arc to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book. I had a lot of emotions when reading this. Maddie is going through at least a decades worth of coming of age in such a short time period. I laughed, I cried, I yelled and I just want to hug Maddie and be her friend.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

*****Publishing January 31, 2023*****

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️I absolutely loved this book from the characters to the story, it was so well done! I can see why this book is getting lots of attention!

Maddie’s life is complicated, she works full time as a personal assistant in marketing at Covent Garden Theatre in London, while taking care of her father who has Parkinson’s. Her mother lives full time in Ghana running a hotel that her father left to her when he died. Her mother is overbearing and frequently asks for money to be sent. Maddie’s brother no longer lives at home, so its left up to Maddie to take care of her father. When her brother is asked, he can never help financially or with the caring of their father.

Maddie doesn’t like her office jobs, so frequently jumps from job to job. Her back aches from lifting her father and mentally she is not happy. Once her mother plans to move back for 1 year, her mother insists she move out in order to live life and find a husband. Can she find her way or will her life continue to spiral out of control?

This author takes the serious topics of Parkinson’s disease, caregiving, death of a parent, racism, depression, friendships, panic attacks, complicated relationships and weaves it into a meaningful, engaging and entertaining story! A story that keeps you thinking about it even after it’s done! A great book club pick as it will lead to many good discussions!

Thanks to St. Martin's Press , I was provided an ARC of Maame by Jessica George via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Maddie is Ghanian living in Croydon, South London, but her family calls her Maame, which has many meanings in Twi, including woman. She lives with her father who is suffering from Parkinson’s and her mom has returned to Ghana - a familial situation she’d prefer stays in the family. Her current circumstances have left Maame sad and searching for meaning in her life. She works at the Covent Garden Theater, negotiating predominantly white spaces, rife with micro and macro aggressions towards her, which she finds exhausting to deal with. When her mom returns to London, Maddie is ready to start living life to the fullest as a young woman should be doing. But when tragedy strikes, she finds herself at a crossroads, forced to reckon with family duty and living between two cultures. This is a beautifully written and moving novel that explores Maddie coming into her own. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for the advanced review copy.

I adored this book. All the characters were well-developed so that you could understand and empathize with their actions even when you didn't agree with them. I found myself constantly rooting for Maddie to find happiness and contentment.

Jessica George gives us the challenges of family dynamics, social expectations of sexuality, responsibilities as the child of immigrants, racism, imposter syndrome, romance, and friendship in a heartbreaking and powerful coming of age story. She teaches us that growing up happens every year until death through not just Maddie's choices but her brother and parents. Of particular importance is the theme of growing up too fast. Maddie says, "I loved being referred to as a women when I was still a girl. I love being viewed as a grown up before I'd even gotten my period. But now I...." For the first time, Maddie is given the space (and forced) to make her own decisions. Her mother says, "When you see what life is like outside of this house, you will understand and you will wish you had lived sooner." Growing up too fast but under the restrictions of family obligations, Maddie develops depression. The lesson I took away from Maame is being an adult is really hard. Especially when you're taking care of the adults who are meant to take care of you. This review sounds depressing, but there is light at the end. Don't miss Maame. I think we'll be talking about it for a long time.

Awww I really loved this! I related a lot to the main character Maddie as I also am the child of Ghanaian immigrant parents. The balance between independence and family obligation is something very complicated and emotional, especially when factoring in cultural norms/traditions.

Refreshing hearing a coming-of-age story but in your twenties and not in your teens - there were light funny moments but also heavy ones as well. Also, the lowkey frustration/shame of not being fluent in Twi (or whatever your native language is) was relateable!!!

Loved loved loved the ending! felt so seen and this was so enjoyable and moving! thank you so much @stmartinspress!

At 25, Maddie struggles to navigate adult life when all her friends seem to have everything figured out. Her mother spends most of her time in Ghana; her brother is pursuing a music career and is barely present, while Maddie is the primary caretaker for her father, who suffers from Parkinson's. When her mom finally returns to London, Maddie leaps to start "living" finally. She moves into an apartment with roommates, says yes to smoking and drinking, and starts online dating. But when tragedy strikes, Maddie is forced to face her unconventional family, her loneliness, and her messy love life.

Labeled as a coming-of-age story, I didn't expect to ugly-cry while reading this book, and I loved every moment of it. MAAME encompasses the messiness of the mid-20s perfectly with Maddie, a self-deprecating and introverted protagonist. Her struggles with loneliness, friendship, dating, sex, and starting a career are all topics I related to profoundly and wished I'd known when I was younger. I especially appreciated the discussions on sex in MAAME and how George paints a realistic picture of what young women face in modern-day dating, particularly the microaggressions young women of color could encounter when dating white men.

One of the most poignant aspects of MAAME is the relationship between Maddie and her father; both are reserved and tend to bottle their emotions inside. As a result, they lost valuable time communicating with each other. It's a heartbreaking reminder of how we can sometimes let our relationships suffer due to our own struggles. It's a rite of passage for every child to realize that their parents aren't perfect, and MAAME does an excellent job of capturing this moment of realization for Maddie.

There's so much to love in MAAME, and this will likely be my top read of the year. This beautifully written and emotional coming-of-age story will resonate with readers of all ages and make you lol & sob at the same time. For those in their 20s, it's a valuable book to know that they're not alone; for readers who have passed this stage (like me ✌️), MAAME made me realize how far I've come and could go.

Maame by Jessica George was a 5 star read for me. This debut novel was really good and I hope the author writes another. It’s about family, self discovery, betrayal and acceptance. I really can’t give this the praise it deserves. My words fail me to explain how good I thought it was.
The audiobook version was narrated by Heather Agyepong and she was perfect. I highly recommend this one.
Thanks St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio via NetGalley.

I love books that make you "feel" for a character and this one did that. This is a story about family dynamics and friendships and finding oneself in the world. I enjoyed how the author wrote it with us knowing what the main character - Maddie was thinking all the time. I liked how Maddie used Google - a lot! It touched on a lot of hard subjects and did so in a realistic way. I learned things and that is always a bonus.

This book tackled some heavy topics (e.g., racism, death, grief, mental illness), but did so in a sensitive, thoughtful way.

I loved the character of Maddie - she was socially awkward but she was written in such an endearing way.

It took me a bit to get into the story - it had a slow start, but I enjoyed it. It was moving and insightful and I’d recommend it!

Charming, stunning, funny, touching, all words that apply to this spectacular book. Maddie is one of the best characters I’ve had the pleasure of reading about. She is navigating the world, trying to find her place in it, while dealing with an ingrained sense of duty towards her family, Maddie’s mother has called her by a nickname, Maame, since she was a young girl. The word means woman. At the beginning of the book, Maddie is far from the woman she is meant to become. Watching her journey toward becoming that woman was a pleasure. I’m sure to read many more books in 2023, but it will be difficult to top this one.

Families can be complicated. Twenty-five-year-old Madeleine "Maddie" Wright’s family is no different and Maddie is struggling. Her life is far from ideal. The daughter of Ghanaian immigrants settled in London, Maddie, working a dead-end administrative job is responsible for the care of her father, whose Parkinson's Disease is now at an advanced stage. Her mother who alternates between Ghana and London is constantly critical of Maddie but this does not stop her from guilting Maddie into shouldering the greater part of all financial responsibilities – paying the bills and well as sending money to her in Ghana where she runs a hostel with her brother. Maddie’s brother who lives separately is self-absorbed and never seems to be around when Maddie asks for help.

When Maddie’s mother returns to London for a year, Maddie takes this opportunity to move out of her father’s house, take up residence in a flatshare with two young women, start a new job in a publishing house (after being unfairly fired from her previous job) and finally live her life. As the narrative progresses we follow Maddie as she navigates her way through professional ups and downs, old and new friendships and romantic relationships. Not all her experiences are pleasant ones. Naïve and inexperienced in the ways of the world, Maddie struggles to strike a balance between the different aspects of her life. When tragedy strikes, Maddie experiences an immense sense of guilt and loss that plunges her into a state of despair. As she tries to come to terms with her loss and move forward, Maddie begins to understand the importance of prioritizing oneself even if it means confronting those who have taken her for granted.

<b>Maame</b> by <b>Jessica George</b> is a moving and deeply insightful novel. The writing is excellent and the characterizations are superbly done. “Maame” is her mother’s nickname for Maddie – in their native Twi, it means woman; the responsible one. As Maddie reflects on her life she shares how she feels that this nickname has somehow defined her, determined how she is perceived by her family members and has influenced not only how she interacts with others but also how she treats herself.

“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.”

Both inter and intra-role conflict are excellently depicted in Maddie’s story. The author gives us a picture of how culture influences roles and expectations within families and relationships. In Maddie, struggling to find a balance between the Ghanaian family values instilled in her since childhood and her life and aspirations as a Londoner, we have an endearing protagonist who is sweet, smart and lovable and is doing her level best to find her way in the world. Her struggles are real and relatable and her pain and grief are palpable. I found the author's writing on Maddie’s struggles with grief and the discussion on mental health particularly powerful and moving. Maddie’s first-person PoV reels you in and makes you feel like a confidante with whom she is sharing her experiences. I felt invested in her story, grieving with her, feeling her anger ,guilt and pain and celebrating her moments of triumph. Heartbreaking in parts, and hopeful in others, the author tells a beautiful story of love, family, friendships, personal growth and self-acceptance with wit, wisdom and emotional depth. It is hard to believe that this is the author’s debut novel. I look forward to reading more from this talented author in the future.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this beautifully-penned novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This novel is due to be released on January 31, 2023.

Incredible Moving Story about Maddie, a 25 year old who takes on so much responsibility at such a young age. It has got in the way of her developing her own life and having confidence in the person she is. Her father has Advanced Stage Parkinson’s Disease and Maddie really is the only one in their family to care for her dad. It takes from her, but shows her wonderful and beautiful heart.

When Maddie’s mother comes home from Ghana, she is finally able to start finding out who she really is about. She has deep religious, cultural, and family values instilled in her that often compete with her desires to be a young and care free Londoner. Maggie decides to try though and I routed for her the whole time. She’s new to work, living with flat mates, and dating. It is not always easy to find the balance she seeks and it costs her heavily at points that just hurt my heart, but there are also great rewards to be found in relationships both old and new.

Maddie is a sweet, intelligent, thoughtful woman who at times is really struggling. Yet, it is possible to be honest and speak about herself as she really is feeling and still find the love she needs. It is both refreshing and heartbreaking for sure, and she endures many ups and downs along the way, but ultimately it is the way for her to find out who the real Maggie is.

Fantastic debut novel by Jessica George. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read this beautiful story. I am always happy to give my honest feelings about a book.

What an excellent book. I have been avoiding books about grief and loss due to my own grief but I stuck with this one and am so glad I did. It’s a beautiful story of love, loss and trying to figure out who you are in the face of unimaginable change.