NetGalley
St Martin’s Press
Fiction, women’s fiction, digital, arc, cultural
320 pages 4/5
ISBN:9781250282521
7/29/23-7/31/23
Maame is a novel rich in culture, specifically the Akan-speaking people of Ghana, where Twi is the dialect spoken in southern and central Ghana. Maame translates to "woman" in Twi which means "woman", a term Maddie's mother has called her 25 year-old daughter since she was young. Maddie had graduated with a university degree in English Literature when her father was diagnosed with late-stage Parkinson's disease. Instead of moving on to live her life as adult, she is tasked with taking a job to maintain a stable income to care for her father. Maddie's mother spends most her time helping to run a hostel in Ghana, leaving the responsibility to Maddie to care for her father in London. Although he has a caregiver, Dawoud, he requires around the clock care leaving Maddie rather stunted in her social development as a young adult. It doesn't help that her 15 year-old brother also chooses to escape responsibility by never being available to help his sister physically or financially with care of his father. He chooses to float about living with friends and working for musicians. .
Maddie's job is less than fulfilling given that she is the only Black person who was hired to provide the visual of the workplace being "diverse". She keeps people at a distance even her best friend as realizes that she is emotionally and socially awkward because of her ability to experience life like her peers. It's only when Maddie's mother returns to London for a year does Maddie move past her guilt and fears to move out on her own leaving her mother to care for her father. Maddie is not prepared for the life of and independent young adult and often finds herself using Google for advice because she has no close relationships. As you can imagine, she learns from her missteps and mishaps the lessons she feels she should already lived. After finding a flat where she finds living with other young women a chance to make new friends and expand her horizons by finding a job where she can use her university degree.
This is a bitter sweet "coming-of-age" story of a 25 year-old who finally gets to explore the life she was meant to live. Her experiences are life altering in positive and challenges ways as she can no longer rely on Google to help her maneuver life. She needs to confront tragedy and loss so that she can develop the confidence and self-esteem necessary to progress as an adult in the world. The author draws you into Maddie's story in a personal manner which has you wanting to help Maddie and steer her in a better direction. Life is an experience which one can only experience individually both happiness and sorrow.
Many thanks to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me access to read this digital book. My review of this book is my honest and unbiased opinion. All comments are expressly my own.
https://www.edelweiss.plus/?sku=1250282527&g=4400
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4957929704
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/221175854
https://www.librarything.com/work/28516595/details/229558316&savedbook=1
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