I was asked to review “Maame” by Jessica George, which was taunted as a “moving” coming of age story.

Maddie, like many twentysomethings, has found out being a grown up can really suck. Besides a difficult job, she struggles to care for her critically ill dad while her mother manages to be domineering even from long-distance Ghana. Needing a change, she flees the nest so she can experience more of a “normal” life of a young woman, but it’s not so easy to escape her upbringing. Can Maddie achieve her dreams while still satisfying her family’s needs (or does the latter even matter?)

There is a lot to love about this story, in particular the character of Maddie who is the right balance of quirky but also fragile. The author does an awesome job of balancing the heavier subjects with plenty of humor. I also learned a lot about the Ghanaian culture.

Maane is available February 7, 2023. Thank you Jessica George, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to review this novel.

Wow!!! Amazing!!! I did not want this novel to end. Maame was a different type of coming of age story because the main character is older. However, she is still relatable because she is realistic. I am looking forward to part 2.

I wasnt sure if i would like this book or not but i LOVED it. It was a quick and entertaining story.

I received a free e-arc of this book through Netgalley.
Wow, I was really blown away by this debut novel. The writing and the emotions hit me so hard while reading this book. Maddie is an amazing character and is so raw and real that I connected with her almost immediately. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

WONDERFUL novel. Madeleine is 25, slow to launch because she's weighed down with responsibilities dumped on her by her self-righteous (but nuanced) mother and her selfish (but maturing) brother. Maame is a coming-of-age story with great depth, including a window into what it's like for a Black girl in a White world, and how the Ghanaian culture influences her life. It's funny, it's heartbreaking, it's negative but with hope. Above all, it's relatable in the context of family drama, guilt, duty, self-doubt, workplaces that take advantage, finding friends and love. This book is written with great skill. The "villains" aren't 100% bad, the good guys aren't purely good, it's a matter of degrees as with real life. I was riveted to the end. This is George's first novel. I look forward to more.

Maame (Maddie) is a young, black girl growing up in London with the cultural influences of her Ghanaian heritage. Her cares for her father who has Parkinson’s disease, her mother is always in Ghana and her brother has fled the family.
When her mother returns from Ghana, she takes the opportunity to move out and embark on a journey that will lead to happiness and self-fulfillment and figure out her place in her family and job.
Maddie is incredibly relatable, as she Google searches her way through figuring out life on her own. It also deals with aspects of mental health and the dive into strained family relationships beautifully. As an immigrant I relate very much to Maame – being torn between familial obligation and a desire to fit into this new world you’re living in.
Would highly recommend and I look forward to future books!

What an absolutely charming coming-of-age tale! The author’s engaging voice captured me right away and pulled me into the story of Maddie, who wrestles with the challenge of breaking free from her childhood responsibilities to navigate living on her own for the first time at age 25. Maame, which means “woman” in Twi, is Maddie’s nickname, and with her mother living in Ghana much of the time and her brother living his own life, Maddie has shouldered the adult-sized duty of caring for her father and raising herself for most of her life. When she finally breaks free, she enters the world with a combination of exhilaration and trepidation, and we have the pleasure of joining her journey.

Jessica George has created real-life, complex characters. By the end of the book, I felt as though I knew them all; even the more minor players had distinct personalities. With the same nuance, George explores with compassion, humor, and insight the nature of profound grief, friendships, romantic relationships, racism, and family dynamics. Reading this lovely story was a rare treat.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an advance copy of this book. My review is voluntary and reflects my honest opinion.

Maame by Jessica George is a gorgeous story I won't soon forget.
Such a great book! I loved the strong women characters, I felt myself tearing through the pages.
I laughed, I cried, I was surprised, I was riveted! This is one a phenomenal story and I devoured it in two sittings.
Beautifully written, engaging characters and a story that is so unforgettable.

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

St. Martin Press,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Wow, WOW... wow.. This book blew me away


The fact that this is Jessica George's DEBUT novel is extraordinary.. Here is why this book really moved me..

I love a well written story about self- discovery book.. For too long these books have been about white women finding themselves and LUCKLY things are becoming more broad and we aren't just reading about white people coming of age and the mistakes and joy we find growing up..

We meet the main girl Maddie, who is such a fabulously written character, growing up in London with the cultural influences of her Ghanaian heritage... The struggles that she faces were beautiful and hard and at times funny.. From an early age, she had to take care of herself because her mother spent most of her time in Ghana, while Maddie’s older brother, James, stayed with friends until he was old enough to be on his own. For the past 8 years, Maddie has also had sole financial, physical and emotional responsibility for her father, who is suffering from Parkinson’s. As a result, she still lives at home so she can take care of him.

Maddie's mom, who splits her time between London and Ghana, comes to London for a year to help take over the care of her father and Maddie moves out for the first time in her life and gets to live for the first time in her life.

Please preorder a copy and read this incredible book.

Maame is a powerful, deep book. I felt a lot of different emotions while reading this one. I found this to be a very touching read. I am a huge fan of coming of age storylines so right off her bat I knew this was a book I had to either buy, or try from NetGalley.You would never guess that Maame is the first book written by Jessica George. She has a beautiful writing style. I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. I’m excited to see the well deserved hype over this book once it is published.

This is a novel about a young British black woman who is struggling to find out who she is. Her parents are from Ghana and she is not sure of what that means to her.

While this is a coming of age story that seems to have been told many times before, it is told in such a way that is so human, so relatable, that it drew me in from start to finish. To read this, you don't need to be young, or British, or black, or even a woman. You just need to be human, with some life experience in order to relate.

Maddie keeps looking for answers to life's questions online, but finds there are many different viewpoints, and ultimately needs to find what works for her. I loved how fresh this felt to me!

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this wonderful book.

Maame is a deliriously enthralling and boldly subversive debut novel. This book is thought provoking, intense, raw, original and stimulating. I enjoyed coming of age story with different and straightforward approaches.

It’s so much outstanding and unpredictable journey for me! Maybe it’s one of my most surprising readings of the year because I didn’t expect to love it so much. But I did! I WHOLEHEARTEDLY LOVED IT!

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a great book about finding your own way in spite of family or habit. It helped me understand Ghanaian culture as well!

The Twi word, Maame, means woman. It’s a name that Maddie has been called all her life. Unfortunately, Maddie has internalized this word to mean that it’s her responsibility to take care of her sick father, their expenses, and the household while her mom lives in Ghana and her brother can’t be bothered. She is 25-years-old and has never had the opportunity to learn who she is meant to be other than everyone’s caretaker.

While Maame is a fun, light-hearted book, it still tackles heavy topics such racism, grief, relationships and mental health. There were times that I found myself laughing out loud. And other times that I had tears streaming down my face. Maddie is a relatable and likeable character, and I was rooting for her from the start of the book all the way to the epilogue.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t usually like books about angst women trying to figure things out, but I found Maame compelling. I was routing for her. I read the book very quickly because I needed to find out how she learned to live her life. The characters were well defined.

In “Maame,” the protagonist and narrator is Maddie Wright, a 25 year old London-born daughter of Ghanaian immigrants. From an early age, she had to take care of herself because her mother spent most of her time in Ghana, while Maddie’s older brother, James, stayed with friends until he was old enough to be on his own. For the past 8 years, Maddie has also had sole financial, physical and emotional responsibility for her father, who is suffering from Parkinson’s. As a result, she still lives at home so she can take care of him.

When her mother returns from Ghana on one of her rare visits to London, Maddie decides to move out of her childhood home and share a flat with two strangers. During the course of the following weeks, she loses her unsatisfying job, finds a new one, starts dating and going out to bars with her roommates, stretching past her comfort zone. Along the way, she learns about hidden racism, betrayal, true friendship, love, loss and her own self-worth.

Although I’m generally not a fan of first person accounts, this style works for this book. Maddie’s thoughts and emotions are so clearly conveyed that the readers feel as if they are inhabiting Maddie’s skin and living first hand the minority immigrant experience. Well-defined characters and a roller coaster ride of emotions make this a compelling read, one that will have the reader thinking about Maddie and her experiences long after finishing the book.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

Perfectly satisfying debut about race, gender, family and friendship. Solid book but also enjoyable enough as a beach or pool read. . Looking to see more from this author in the future

If I could give this more than five stars, I would. At first, I was frustrated with our main character, Maddie, because I felt like she was just a doormat in all aspects of her life, but having lost a parent in the recent past, the way Jessica George writes about Maddie’s grief and how she dealt with her own loss was powerful. It was fascinating to watch Maddie try to figure out who she was and where she fit in this world, and it was heartening to see her learn to stand up for herself and grapple with the emotions tied to the complexities of family relationships…all while trying to finally be her own person out in “the real world”. I loved her friends, Nia and Shu and the way they were there for her no matter what. I also appreciated the ties to her Ghanaian culture and the importance/significance of her name in the story. I’ve always believed names are important and impactful parts of a person’s identity, and her story highlights this beautifully.

Jessica George’s Maame is beautifully written and so moving. The emotion and thought she put into her character brings you into the book and guides you through Maddie’s life as if you were right along with her. You can feel the love and loyalty she has for her family, you can feel the push and pull to keep her life balanced. This book kept me fully engaged from start to finish. This is a winner for sure.

Jessica George's debut novel Maame tells the story of a woman's candid love, loyalty and devotion to her family. It is emotionally charged and contains relatable scenarios that will bring you to your knees.

Synopsis:
Twenty-five-year-old Maddie's life in London is far from ideal. She struggles to balance her life as caretaker of her critically ill father, target of her mom's verbal tirades, and a difficult career. After her mom returns from an extended trip to Ghana, Maddie moves out on her own for the first time. It's her opportunity to finally explore the life experiences that many girls discover in their teens. When Maddie begins to open herself up to the possibility of a romantic relationship, tragedy strikes leaving her emotionally depleted. As a result, Maddie is forced to confront her non-conforming family and decide where she fits into the larger world. Is Maddie able to achieve her potential?

Maane is touching, witty, and deals with current topics in our culture. Readers quickly become engaged in the fate of the fictional characters. Jessica George's writing is straight from the heart with liberal doses of humor sprinkled in.

Maane by Jessica George is available February 7, 2023. (5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for allowing me to review this brilliant e-book. Your kindness is appreciated!