STAY WITH ME, A Novel

by Ayobami Adebayo
 
This was a fascinating book to read while eight months pregnant, though I can’t imagine anyone who wouldn’t be captivated by such a compact and beautiful narrative.  The central topic is a young woman desperate for a child, and all that ensues as she struggles to conceive.
 
Set in Nigeria between 1985 and 2008, Stay With Me tells the challenging story of a marriage that is full of love, often difficult, occasionally humorous and ultimately heartbreaking. Yejide and Akin married young, and married for love, which is not the case for all of their siblings, friends and neighbors.  Akin has also promised never to take a second wife, a promise his parents refuse to believe or abide by.  As the years pass without Yejide conceiving, her in-laws apply more and more pressure for another woman to be added to their family.
 
Adebayo does a masterful job of exploring issues of polygamy, fidelity, the struggle with fertility and what it means to be in a marriage.  But she also weaves in the political happenings in Nigeria throughout the decades she portrays.  I, for one, knew nothing about Nigerian history and was impressed by how naturally the author made the political personal in this novel.
 
I was enthralled from the first page, and would put it very high on my list of books to recommend to just about any reader! (Lily)