A Crazy Rich Asians for West Africa, with a healthy splash of feminism.
A Cinderella story set in Ghana.
“I think I would have been less apprehensive if Eli himself had been present.” Probably so, since this is Afi’s wedding and Elikem is the groom, whom she has barely met. This delightful debut novel from Medie, who was born in Liberia, educated in Ghana and the U.S., and teaches at the University of Bristol in England, is anything but academic. As it begins, Afi—gorgeous, talented at sewing, dirt poor, and very country—is being married in a traditional ceremony to an absent young man whose wealthy and powerful family, the Ganyos, will do anything to separate him from his Liberian mistress. An aging woman known as Aunty is the Don Corleone of the clan, obeyed and feared by all—or almost all. Her selection of Afi as designated daughter-in-law immediately improves the desperate straits of Afi’s widowed mother and a whole slew of other relatives, who begin receiving deliveries of rice and other supplies as part of her bride price. Eli’s brother, Richard, sets Afi up in a fancy apartment in Accra and his sister Yaya helps her enroll in fashion design school. Now…if only Eli would show up. By the time he does, Afi is so lonely and miserable that she might have fallen in love with him even if he weren’t incredibly good looking, generous, and sweet. Unfortunately, he is also completely unwilling to break things off with his other woman, who lives in his primary residence with their daughter. Medie subtly develops Afi’s character as she—mentored by her brother-in-law’s mistress, who lives down the hall—goes from being an innocent, awestruck village girl to a sophisticated, confident woman, accustomed to privilege and luxury, set on a creative career...and mad as hell. She gradually pieces together the scoop on her rival, who “moved to Ghana reluctantly, her cigarettes and booze clutched in one hand and her baby in the other” and now has Eli so wrapped around her little finger that she takes off on a solo vacation to Spain while he’s out of town on business. Afi deserves better. This is war.
A Crazy Rich Asians for West Africa, with a healthy splash of feminism.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-61620-915-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Algonquin
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
Vivid characters are set adrift in a “ripped from the headlines” tableau that complicates the story, and the storytelling.
A diverting midlife story plucks at the secrets good people carry to the grave.
As a reader, Artie Dam—the protagonist of Strout’s 11th book—encounters Olive Kitteridge, “a crotchety old woman from Maine” and Strout’s most celebrated fictional character. Artie picked up the Pulitzer-anointed book centered on Olive after his wife, Evie, loved it, “oh, years ago now.” Strout is having a bit of fun—that “oh” is a trademark—even though she marbles her latest novel with marital infidelity, political anxiety, and suicide. Indeed, it is the fact that Olive’s father died by suicide that Artie, 57 and gaining a paunch, recalls now in his own dismalness. As the story begins, he is pondering the most discreet way to die, despite having been Massachusetts’ Teacher of the Year five years earlier. Artie seems the inverse of irascible Olive: beloved by his students; by his grown son, Rob; and by the English teacher, Anne, who quietly pines for him. But like Olive, Artie has distressing impulses—he steals a comb, then some expensive shirts. Much of the text bobs along on Artie’s stocktaking memories, chunked out in short, occasionally abrupt paragraphs. Strout’s storytelling is thinning a bit, like middle-aged hair. Then, midbook, she clobbers Artie with a brutal existential shock. In its wake, Strout surfs the nature of loneliness, corrosive secrets, and the convulsions of the 2024 presidential election. Hers is an unremittingly Blue State book, although Artie has one friend who, unbeknownst to him, supported Donald Trump. On the day after the election, Artie somberly concludes that his “country was committing suicide.” This is the first novel in which Strout entirely vacates Maine for another setting. But she sticks with Artie and, on the final pages, delivers him a satisfying finale.
Vivid characters are set adrift in a “ripped from the headlines” tableau that complicates the story, and the storytelling.Pub Date: May 5, 2026
ISBN: 9798217154746
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2026
SEEN & HEARD
An evocative, kaleidoscopic affirmation of life from the perspective of Death.
The personification of death stumbles on companionship in the small British city where he lives, as he continues standing sentinel beside people in their last moments.
Narrator Travis Smith is “inside everything”—ebullient mayflies, skittish deer, and the people around him. He’s privy to how long they’ll live and to every intricacy of their lives, his job to stand witness to people’s dying moments. He’s never challenged this role, even as the ever-present noise sometimes overwhelms him. But Travis finds his isolated, detached life disrupted by Dalia, a midwife, and her two young daughters, who live in the flat across the hall. Through them, he unintentionally becomes a participant in life in a new way. The novel captures the seemingly contradictory idea of beauty in scenes of pain. The violence of a car crash is juxtaposed with the natural world surrounding it, the banality of everyday life continuing even as one life stops. This tension is woven throughout, as readers glimpse Travis’ work as a witness to people’s dying moments. In short passages in which Travis describes a person’s end and salient events in their life, we see a well-etched character for whom death can be relief, terror, or perhaps the ultimate injustice. Author Reeves has a keen eye for the salient detail, making the reader become emotionally invested in characters seen only briefly. As Travis’ narration moves from his work to the quiet yet increasingly meaningful time he spends with his neighbors, it illuminates a microcosm of the cycles of life and death, as glimpsed through the natural world and scenes with community members. Conversations feature crisp dialogue and moments of silence that emphasize how loss and grief can’t always be articulated and comfort can’t always be given. As Travis’ relationships with his neighbors grow, his sense of himself as a person outside his role also evolves, and his job begins to burden him emotionally. Through Travis, we see the beauty of love and small moments of companionship and connection, all the more powerful for the fact of life’s brevity and unpredictable end.
An evocative, kaleidoscopic affirmation of life from the perspective of Death.Pub Date: July 7, 2026
ISBN: 9781668216361
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Avid Reader Press
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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