It is May 1st! (Insert Justin Timberlake “It’s gonna be May” meme). Holy crap! After 977 months of winter in Boston it feels so good to say it is May. Beginning of the month also means that it is time for Book Club!!! I recently read Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo.
This is a book I have wanted to pick up for awhile. But I am not going to lie, I was first drawn to this book only for its bright orange cover. I literally bought it without even reading what it was about. Risky move but orange is my favorite color and even if the book sucked it would look good on my book shelf. But lucky for me, this book was AMAZING. It is set in Nigeria and follows a husband and wife through their early marriage. It deals with polygamy, infertility and other dynamic family issues. I don’t want to say too much about the plot to give it away. Adebayo switches between the husband and wife’s point of view. I LOVE when authors do this. And it works for this storyline.
This book is so moving. It almost brought me to tears (except for the fact that I don’t cry and am as dry as the Arizona desert inside). But it will literally churn up every emotion inside of you with each flip of the page. You can literally see my hand clench wrinkles in the book jacket.
Some have characterized the book as feminist but honestly I’m not sure that does it justice. It is about a modern woman in an archaic society. It’s intimate. It’s intense. Adebayo peels away the layers of this marriage to reveal what is really going on in such an artfully delicate way. You will feel raw inside by the time you were done. I honestly was confused with how I felt after reading it. But I can say that it is a really good book purely for the fact that it got you thinking and feeling. I would recommend it to anyone. However, I would say you should pour a big glass of wine before digging in because you’re going to need it for the emotional support.
If you’ve read this book, let me know your thoughts in the comments. And what Is everyone reading right now? What should I read next?
