4.5

Loved the British-Ghana audiobook narration for this book. It was a breath of fresh air and such a poignant look at grief and caretaking as a daughter. As she grew into her own, I was routing for her. I can see why so many people (and Jenna) loved this one and this author’s pov for Maame (who goes by Maddie).

. . . ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭑
I couldn’t read this one fast enough. Often, its usually the thrillers or the romance books that I have a tendency to gobble up, but this was one of those books that I couldn’t seem to put down.

I immediately felt a kinship with Maame. Her character was written in such a way that it allowed for an incredibly immersive experience into Maame’s mind, and created a true understanding of her thoughts and feelings. It also offered the opportunity to truly apqpreciate how her Ghanian culture ( and the way that her mother parented ) impacted the way she viewed or behaved in certain situations.

The moniker of “coming-of-age tales” are usually reserved for those grow-up and glow-up novels starting from a young age, but I find these adulthood coming-of-age stories to be incredibly relatable. While your childhood and youth experiences certainly shape your adult lens, so much “growing up” is done in those early twenties. You learn so much about your strengths, weaknesses, and resilience, and it highlights the idea of what it means to know yourself.

I always value a good mental health spotlight and felt like the subject was tackled honestly and realistically, which isn’t always easy to do. I specifically loved the relationships that Maame had with her friends Shu and Nia in this regard, and they showed the power of having supportive people in your life through good times and bad.

There was something about this book that just spoke to me - Maame as a novel and as a character was relatable and distinctive, and I encourage you to pick this book up.

~👩🏻‍🦰

This witty, charming, heartwarming coming of age memoir kept me engaged throughout, and left me with a smile on my face. It’s easy to relate to the life lessons that she encounters as we were all young and inexperienced once.
Maddie, nicknamed “Maame” by her mother, is a second generation Ghanaian living in London. Though she longs to spread her wings and fly, her launch into life has been postponed because of her duty to care for her father, who has Parkinson’s. Her mother has been flying back and forth to Ghana, spending a lot of time there, and has rarely been present or willing to help Maddie with his care. Now Maddie is 25, and her mother has returned to London permanently, so Maddie is finally able to move out and begin trying out her new wings, later in life than most.
Most people can relate to the difficulties of early adulthood, of finding one’s way with jobs, friendships and love for the first time. It is bittersweet watching her experience the ups and downs of all these things. In addition, she also has to navigate between the expectations of Ghanian culture and the necessity of surviving in modern London. She earnestly tries her best to make good choices, but it’s still turbulent. She is a wonderful young woman and I was rooting for her the whole way.
Highly recommended.

Review: Maame by Jessica George

✏️ Rating: A- // This book has been everywhere since its release earlier this year and for good reason. Jessica George’s writing is beautiful and sparse, and Maddie has such a great voice that is so relatable if you’ve ever felt young and lost. Maddie’s reflections on the complexities of her familial, platonic, and romantic relationships were some of the most memorable moments for me, and I really enjoyed spending time in her rich inner world as she navigates the many firsts of her twenties in the midst of also processing some heavy emotions. I also loved reading about Maddie’s feelings about her Ghanaian family and culture and how it impacts her as she learns to navigate her independence in London for the first time. This a debut that appears to be pretty heavily inspired by the author’s own life and experiences, and I’m really looking forward to seeing seeing what she writes next.

💕 Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book. Pictured is the hard copy received in my BOTM subscription.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. This was a solid book that lived up to the advanced praise. I'll read more by this author in the future.

Maame was such a beautifully written, absolutely heartfelt novel about a charmingly naive woman who endures both moments of gut-wrenching pain and incredible joy throughout a journey of self-discovery and understanding of the world that surrounds us, with a little help from Google and both the lovely and toxic people who become key characters in her life.

I recall that both Maame and Wahala came out around similar times, with similar covers and with stories focusing on Nigerian characters. I kept getting the books confused because of those very shallow similarities and actually ended up reading the books almost back-to-back. But the novels themselves couldn’t be anymore different. Wahala was a toxic drama between frenemies that was messy and eye-roll worthy (though entertaining), and Maame has become one of the most gorgeous stories I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. I found myself smiling to myself and crying, sometimes simultaneously, throughout reading this book, and often noticed that while parts of this book were unbearably sad to me, the book was also hopeful and beautiful in a way that I don’t often feel when reading.

I would recommend this book over and over and it still would never be enough. What an absolute pleasure it was to read this story, even in the moments that absolutely broke my heart.

This book was devastating and then by the time I finished, and without even realizing the shift, felt like a hug. Don't let the bright cover fool you, this story explores dark themes. But inside there is a humanity that is transcendentally relatable.

Maame started off weak to me- I wasn't sure I liked the voice of the the main character, and I felt like it was going to be a book length polemic. But I was so wrong. By the end I was so delighted to be in Maddie's head with her, and although I am lucky enough to not have experienced such loss, it felt like a beautiful tribute to the realities of grief and also embracing truth and life. This novel has a lot to say about racism and family and big topics, but by being so grounded in a central character who does not always make the right choice but does learn from her errors- well, it was much more than the sum of its parts. This is a really great read and it kept me up way past bedtime on a school night so I could find out where Maame's path leads (and whether she can be a woman as well as a caregiver-mother figure). Five stars!

Being raised in a new country but living by the old country's rules is the story of most immigrant children around the world. Parents try so hard to instill the old world in their children that the children struggle with trying to fit into two worlds instead of one.

In Maame, the author illustrates Maddie's struggle to do the right thing by her father and mother while seeing the the gender roles between her and her brother are not balanced. She experiences racism in the workplace and feels as if she is not enough. Additionally, Maddie struggles with making friendships and having relationships because she doesn't know how to be honest about her feelings due to her mother's insistence that outsiders should never know the family's business.

As a child of immigrants Maddie's story and the expectations of maame resonated with me. I felt seen and acknowledged, and a little less different.

This was such a wonderful debut about a young woman finding herself for the first time. Even though she's twenty-five, I would definitely consider this coming-of-age. Maddie was such a likeable character, so it was super easy to connect to her. I felt like all the ways she reacted felt super realistic as well, and this book did a wonderful job with depicting grief and mental health.

Overall, a great book. Just be warned that it does deal with some heavier topics that include grief and mental health, so you may need to be in the right head space for this one. A definite recommend though, and I look forward to checking out more of Jessica George's work in the future.

Wow. What an incredible debut!!! This novel was everything, awkward, heartfelt and heart-breaking. 5 Stars!!!

With a mother who spends most of her time in Ghana (yet still somehow manages to be overbearing), Maddie is the primary caretaker for her father, who suffers from advanced stage Parkinson's. At work, her boss is a nightmare and Maddie is tired of always being the only Black person in every meeting.

A beautiful, deeply moving coming of age story to end February and Black History Month with.

Maddie, a 20-something Ghanaian British woman, has been expected to be everything to everyone—especially when she’s committed to taking care of her father who’s suffering from Alzheimer’s. All while her brother is mostly absent and her mom is on the other side of the world in Ghana for most of the year.

That’s how Maame, or ‘woman’ in Twi, operates, as her family affectionally and with expectation calls her. Maddie’s purpose so far in life is to sacrifice for others without any complaints. And that’s left her stunted and naive in the midst of a quarter life crisis where she has yet to really experience the life she wants to live.

But what does Maddie truly want out of life? Independence. Freedom from the weight of her family’s burdens. Navigating friendships, living outside of her family’s home for the first time, familial duty, grief, first loves and unconventional family dynamics all reveals the joy, and guilt, of trying to find one’s own way in life.

I relate to her so much more than Queenie or Luster… but books are here to transport you for a reason right? Even if they rile you up to no end… but this is not about them 😂

MAAME. Ma’am. Maddie. Yes.

I went and bought the hard copy after finishing this!

Thank you so much to the author & publisher for the ARC!

Wow! Without spoiling the story for others, I absolutely loved this book. I instantly fell in love with Maddie. This has to be one of the most relatable books I’ve read lately - Maddie struggles with & learns how to deal with life-altering changes as she grows into being an independent woman. Her career, family, death, relationships, sex, friendships. She tells her story & you can “see” her grow & learn with each experience & how they shape her. I loved this book. I was rooting for Maddie all the way through, & I loved going through all the trials with her.

An excellent debut; really looking forward to more from this author.

Maame is a beautifully-written novel about Maddie Wright, a Ghanaian-British woman who is finally having her "coming-of-age" moment at age 25.

Maddie has always lived quite a sheltered life, with few friends, no real romantic relationships, a job she hates, and acting as the primary caregiver for her father, who has late-stage Parkinson's Disease. With all this weighing on her shoulders, Maddie has never truly lived for herself. When she gets fired from her job, and her mother returns to London from her latest trip to Ghana, Maddie finally has the opportunity to experience everything she has been missing out on: a new job in her chosen field of study, romantic relationships, and - most importantly - independence. While things do not go quite as smoothly as she hopes they would, she begins to find her own voice and personal worth while on her journey of growth and self-discovery.

I loved this book so much. Maddie is such a lovable character that you really just want to see her succeed in life, love, everything. As a 1st-gen American-born child of immigrants myself, I really enjoyed how the story explored that feeling of disconnection from two cultures, with no real experience in how to be 100% one or the other. I also appreciated how the story deals with mental health and depression, and how that may impact our daily existence without being something that we even have the capacity to identify within ourselves and acknowledge.

Overall, this was such a fantastic story, with an MC you fall in love with and want the best for. The only reason it was not a 5-star for me was that, as a member of Gen Z, Maddie's naivete sometimes felt a bit forced. But that was my only hangup and it was a teeny, tiny one at that.

Madeline "Maddie" Wright's life is not what she thought it would be in her mid-20s. She's taken on the role of caretaker for her dad, her brother drops in and out to help when he can, and her mother is back in Ghana. She has a job she doesn't like and feels stuck. But when her mom moves back and she gets fired from the job she hates, Maddie decides to start living for herself. But when some of her decisions change the outcome of her life in devastating ways, Maddie questions who is the person she wants to be and is she moving in that direction. A refreshing coming-of-age story about the many emotions of our mid-20s that reminds us all about first love, independence, regret, heartbreak, and friendship.

In Maame, Jessica George introduced us to Maddie, a young woman of Ghanian heritage living in London. She bears the weight of caring for her father while her mother lives half time in Ghana and her brother evades any responsibility. When Maddie finally has the opportunity to start living on her own, she ventures awkwardly into online dating, living with flat mates, and starts a new, hopefully better job in publishing. A family tragedy provides more hurdles for Maddie who leads with her heart as she navigates adulthood. This is a lovely debut from Ms. George.

One of my favorites so far of 2023. I loved Maddie and her story was poignant, heartbreaking and uplifting. Maddie kept her sense of humor even while coping with her struggles with her career and her family. There were times I wanted to scream at Maddie’s family, but I loved Maddie’s relationship with her dad. I think I bonded with Maddie as she cared for her father, but also wanted to have a life that was independent of her family.

Maame was a quick read for me and a lovely, engaging story. I loved the book's London setting. Thank you to St. Martin's Press for my copy via NetGalley.

Maddie, in her 20s, has always been the bedrock of her family. She cares for her sick father while her mother spends most of her time in Ghana and her brother is almost entirely absent. She's a self-admitted people pleaser, her job gives her a lot of stress, she doesn't date, and she doesn't feel that she can open up to her friends about what her home life is really like. Her mom coming home pushes Maddie out in the world, forcing Maddie to consider what kind of life she wants for herself for the first time.

I can't believe this is a debut novel! The storytelling here is so fresh and effortless. The way Maddie speaks directly to us, the reader, is reminiscent of young adult novels--I've never seen that in a book geared to adults, and something about it was just so fun. It made me feel like I was Maddie's trusted friend, hearing all her thoughts. That's not to say this felt like a YA novel: it absolutely did not.

This novel deals with mental health, complicated family dynamics, race and racism, navigating professional life, sex. There is so much here< that we experience through Maddie, but it doesn't feel overdone or overworked.

There was a part right in the middle where I felt like it got too predictable, but it was a short part, and despite that, I still found this to be a solid five star read. I loved being alongside Maddie as she came into her own.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press!

A charming and moving story about finding your way when tragedy strikes. Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an advanced copy.