Book Review: Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo

Book Review

Synopsis:

This celebrated, unforgettable first novel, shortlisted for the prestigious Women's Prize for Fiction and set in Nigeria, gives voice to both husband and wife as they tell the story of their marriage--and the forces that threaten to tear it apart.

Yejide and Akin have been married since they met and fell in love at university. Though many expected Akin to take several wives, he and Yejide have always agreed: polygamy is not for them. But four years into their marriage--after consulting fertility doctors and healers, trying strange teas and unlikely cures--Yejide is still not pregnant. She assumes she still has time--until her family arrives on her doorstep with a young woman they introduce as Akin's second wife. Furious, shocked, and livid with jealousy, Yejide knows the only way to save her marriage is to get pregnant, which, finally, she does--but at a cost far greater than she could have dared to imagine. An electrifying novel of enormous emotional power, Stay With Me asks how much we can sacrifice for the sake of family.

My thoughts 

4/5 ⭐

Did you ever have a book on your TBR list for years and you just keep delaying to read it. This was the situation with Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo. All I can say that this is hands down one of my favorites so far for 2021.

Akin and Yejide a couple since college are having problems with fertility. The story begins with an intervention from Akin's family who is suggesting he takes on a second wife. Little does everyone know there is more to this couple's infertility that meets the eye. Yejide goes through a wave of emotions sadness, rage and even a mental breakdown. When she finally becomes pregnant however, everything is not as it seems....

This novel was not a long one but so impactful. I love how the author spoke to the issue of infertility which is a situation faced by many couples and society's view on it from an African standpoint. The role of Akin's brother Dotun was very important in the book because what he represented was the length that some persons would go to protect secrets. I also like how the story set in the 1980s also depicted the politics of the time and the effect it had on families. 

I wanted to write this review to not giveaway too much of the story because I want persons to read this. It was absolutely brilliant. As women many of us could relate to what Yejide has to go through with infertility in a society that blames the female for not being able to produce children.  You will feel many emotions while reading this. I was not able to put it down.

This was a great story indeed. A good book club book.

About the Author 

Ayobami Adebayo's stories have appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies, and one was highly commended in the 2009 Commonwealth short story competition. She holds BA and MA degrees in Literature in English from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife. She also has an MA in creative writing from the University of East Anglia where she was awarded an international bursary for Creative Writing. Ayobami has been the recipient of fellowships and residencies from Ledig House, Hedgebrook, Threads, Ebedi Hills and Ox-Bow.
STAY WITH ME- UK (Canongate, March 2017), Nigeria (Ouida Books, April 2017), US (Knopf, August 2017), KENYA (Kwani?, August 2017) is her debut novel.