"Yejide and Akin have been married since they met and fell in love at university. Though many expected Akin to take several wives, he and Yejide have always agreed: polygamy is not for them. But four years into their marriage–after consulting fertility doctors and healers, trying strange teas and unlikely cures–Yejide is still not pregnant. She assumes she still has time–until her family arrives on her doorstep with a young woman they introduce as Akin’s second wife. Furious, shocked, and livid with jealousy, Yejide knows the only way to save her marriage is to get pregnant. Which, finally, she does–but at a cost far greater than she could have dared to imagine."— GoodReads 

Over the past few years I have made a conscious effort to read more books by African authors, specifically Nigerian authors. I stumbled upon this book on Pinterest and honestly decided to read it because the main character's name was Yejide. (My middle name). But once I picked it up, this book was hard to put down.  

This novel touches on a host of taboo topics in the African culture, most especially the Nigerian culture. The author, Ayobami Adebayo gives her audience an inside look at how the Nigerian culture deals with infertility, polygamy, infidelity, diseases, and death. We see Yejide, a successful business woman marry her college sweetheart, Akin, but later is unable to conceive a child. The couple visit many hospitals, doctors and traditional healers, but to no avail.  But is the infertility issue Yejide’s or Akin’s? Akin’s family’s solution to the issue is to bring a second wife into the home because when there’s an issue of infertility it is automatically perceived as the wife’s fault.  Desperate to save her marriage, Yejide goes to what some may consider extreme measures to get pregnant. Adebayo weaves a tale of twists, surprises, and heartbreaking moments in this book. The story alternates back and forth between Yejide and Akin’s point of view, allowing the readers to understand them both as individuals, and to keep us intrigued as to what will happen next.

Being Nigerian myself, I have witnessed a lot of these issues within family and within the Nigerian community. This is Ayobami Adebayo’s debut novel and I’m glad that she decided to write a tale about topics that are barely spoken about in the Nigerian culture. Hopefully this will be the start of conversation that desperately needs to happen. I highly recommend this book. 5/5

Have you read Stay With Me? What did you think of it? Let’s discuss below.

Forever in Awe,

C. Yejide