An essay from the collection, Of This Our Country
Defining Nigeria bold, a half-truth. Several have tried, but most came to the conclusion that it is really difficult to capture the true scope and consideration of the most populous nation in Africa through expressions or images.
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Yet here, through personal essays from 24 of its writers, a more accurate picture comes into view, and in her essay, Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ recalls memories of her time in the National Youth Service and her growing understanding of her Nigerian identity through the words of the national anthem.
Powerful, lyrical and entirely unforgettable, the essays from OF THIS OUR COUNTRY weave together a living portrait of Nigeria, one that is as beautiful as it is complex.
Jendella Benson, author of Hope and Glory :The read I never thought I needed … Moving, funny at times, insightful and so relatable. It's a necessary read.
As eclectic and diverse as the country itself, and you can go from laughing to wanting to weep in a matter of moments as you’re taken through the ups and downs of a nation.
Yejide i Akin són un jove matrimoni a la Nigèria dels anys vuitanta. En una societat poligàmica, ells, sabent-se enamorats, decideixen ser una parella monògama.
Però els problemes comencen quan no arriben els fills, fet que socialment i familiarment es considera una catàstrofe.
Akin accedirà a casar-se gairebé d'amagat amb una segona esposa. Indignada i gelosa, Yejide sap que l'única manera de salvar el seu matrimoni serà aconseguir quedar-se embarassada.
En la tradició de Chinua Achebe i Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, la primera novel·la d'Ayòbámi Adébáyò tracta temes universals -amor, família, traïció, culpa- en una història apassionant sobre les relacions humanes, les expectatives vitals que ens fem a la joventut i sobre el desig, de vegades incontrolable, de tenir fills.
Rebuda com un autèntic fenomen literari, _Queda't amb mi_ és la història de dos personatges que s'enfronten desesperadament a les frustracions i les pèrdues que la vida els imposa.
Yejide et Akin ont une histoire d'amour extraordinaire. De leur coup de foudre à l'université à leur mariage, tout s'est enchaîné.
Pourtant, quatre ans plus tard, Yejide n’est toujours pas enceinte. Ils pourraient se contenter de leur amour si Akin, en tant que fils aîné, n’était tenu d’offrir un héritier à ses parents. Jusqu’au jour où une jeune femme apparaît sur le pas de la porte.
La seconde épouse d’Akin. Celle qui lui donnera l’enfant tant désiré, Bouleversée, folle de jalousie, Yejide sait que la seule façon de sauver son mariage est d’avoir un bébé. Commence alors une longue et douloureuse quête de maternité qui exigera d’elle des sacrifices inimaginables.
— SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2017 BAILEYS WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION.
— SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2018 WELLCOME BOOK PRIZE.
— LONGLISTED FOR THE 2018 INTERNATIONAL DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE.
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Yejide is hoping for a miracle, for a child. It is all her husband wants, all her mother-in-law wants, and she has tried everything.
But when her relatives insist upon a new wife, it is too much for Yejide to bear.
Unravelling against the social and political turbulence of 1980s Nigeria, Stay With Me is a story of the fragility of married love, the undoing of family, the power of grief, and the all-consuming bonds of motherhood.
It is a tale about the desperate attempts we make to save ourselves, and those we love, from heartbreak.
The Times :Scorching, gripping, ultimately lovely
Guardian :This terrific first novel (shortlisted for the Baileys women's prize for fiction) deals with the daily stresses of living with the political upheavals of the time but the real drama is happening in Yejide's womb. Adebayo unfolds the many layers of truth with insight and skill
New York Times :A thoroughly contemporary style that is all her own . . . clever and funny . . . despite the intense sadness of her subject matter, she has produced a bright, big-hearted demonstration of female spirit, as well as the damage done by the boundlessness of male pride
Stylist :Has a remarkable emotional resonance and depth of field Adebayo is an exceptional storyteller. She writes not just with extraordinary grace but with genuine wisdom about love and loss and the possibility of redemption. She has written a powerfully magnetic and heartbreaking book.
Sunday Times :One of the must-reads books of the year so far: Stay With Me has it all, including big themes of love, grief and jealousy, a fantastic female protagonist plus it reads like a page-turning thriller.
Daily Mail :Affecting and powerful . . . Adebayo's prose is a pleasure: immediate, unpretentious and flecked with whip-smart Nigerian-English dialogue
ELLE :This deeply impressive novel of infertility, loneliness and longing is the first by the hotly-tipped Adebayo and it packs a tremendous punch
Mail on Sunday :This confident and fearless writer challenges us to think about marriage from all perspectives in her first novel . . . Stay With Me is the closely observed, heartbreaking and original tale of the desperate attempts we make to save ourselves from severing the very bonds that make us
Financial Times :This impressive debut creates, in deceptively simple prose, a portrait of a marriage in crisis in a deeply patriarchal and oppressive society
This tale of a Nigerian couple under familial pressure to conceive is a subtle and unsentimental triumph . . . A tale of real complexity and humanity, part psychological observation and social study