Stay with Me

Starred review from June 12, 2017
Adebayo explores the toll the intense pressure to have children exacts on one Nigerian couple across two decades. Akin’s large family disrupts his and Yejide’s happy but childless marriage by forcing him into a polygamous marriage without his wife’s knowledge. This betrayal and a last-ditch visit to a holy man convince Yejide that she is pregnant and she begins a year-long psychosomatic pregnancy. Just when she finally accepts that there will be no child, Akin’s brother Dotun seduces and impregnates her. The child is eagerly welcomed as Akin’s own, especially by his imposing mother. The happiness ends abruptly with the seemingly accidental death of Akin’s second wife. As subsequent traumas multiply between the couple, Adebayo slowly reveals their unspoken shame by having both narrate chapters covering the same events. Yejide’s strong ache to be a mother and her frustration with traditional Yoruba culture make her a complex character. Adebayo shows great promise in her debut novel. Her methodical exposure of her characters’ secrets forces the reader into continual reevaluations and culminates in a tender, satisfying conclusion.

Adjoa Andoh delivers a strong portrayal of this audiobook's main characters, Yejide and Akin, an African couple entangled in cultural traditions they hope to share with their future children. Some of the traditions, however, challenge their growing family. Andoh clearly differentiates the characters by altering her tone and adding accents to her pronunciation at various times. She virtually becomes the elder mothers and other family members who impact the couple's relationship. Andoh's tone is sharp, especially when representing Yejide. The anguish in her voice during scenes of hardship is at times purposely overbearing to convey the depth of Yejide's feelings as a mother and wife. This is a powerful novel that unfolds through Andoh's superb characterizations of the protagonists. T.E.C. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

December 1, 2017

Against a tumultuous backdrop of political, military, and economic turmoil in modern Nigeria comes a portrait of a marriage that begins with idealistic devotion and ardent promise. For Yejide and Akin, love should have been enough, but after four years without children, "even love bends, cracks, comes close to breaking and sometimes does break." Unable to fend off his mother's demands for a grandchild, Akin warily agrees to take a second wife. When modern medicine can't help her conceive, desperate Yejide climbs the "Mountain of Jaw-Dropping Miracles" and comes back down convinced (falsely) she's pregnant. The need to procreate both unites and destroys the couple, each plagued with secrets and betrayals that eventually lead to parenthood but not without devastating regrets and searing tragedy. Adjoa Andoh's rich narration, softly infused with her native British accent, effortlessly adapts to a more pronounced Nigerian inflection as needed. Andoh becomes both husband and wife, modulating her mellifluous voice between Akin's hope and defeat and Yejide's hurt and resolve. With elegant control, Andoh elevates Adebayo's already extraordinary debut into a spectacular aural performance. VERDICT Libraries owe patrons ready access to this sort of meaningful, transformative fare. ["A blazing entry onto the list of young, talented writers from Nigeria": LJ 6/15/17 starred review of the Knopf hc.]--Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon, Washington, DC

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