His only wife by Peace Adzo Medie

A wedding without a groom! Apparently it is possible in a Ghanian traditional wedding. When Eli's business commitments prevent him from attending his own wedding, his younger brother is able to be his stand-in. The family of Afi, the bride, prepare the celebrations, and Eli's family pay the bride price in presents. There are photographs and videos so that Eli can catch up on his wedding afterwards.

It doesn't seem a very auspicious start, and Afi has concerns, because the whole thing has been arranged by the wealthy businesswoman known as Aunty, Eli's mother, in a calculated plan to draw him away from the despised Liberian woman he has become involved with. For Afi, agreeing to marry a man she hardly knows is the opportunity to lift herself and her widowed mother out of poverty, study at a fashion school  . . . and everybody says that Eli is a good man.

This intriguing start to the story quickly draws the reader in; and the varied personalities and customs of the families in Ho, a village in Ghana, are described with humour, so it becomes hard to put the book down. As events unfold, Afi develops from a shy and compliant village girl to become more assertive about her expectations of life as a married woman.

It is Afi who provides the narrative voice, so we do not meet the 'other woman'; we only know what Afi has been told, and we share her fears and prejudices. As the story progressed I did find it a bit troubling that in a story about female empowerment, no sympathy was given to the Liberian woman, even though her situation is not unlike that of another woman that Afi befriends.

For the most part Medie's novel presents as an interesting and warmly humorous take on a Cinderella story, with fascinating scenes of Ghanian life, but the twist at the end gives it a punch that lifts it to another level and provides food for further reflection and discussion.

Themes: Ghana, Women, Marriage, Polygamy, Deception.

Helen Eddy