By Olukorede Yishau
The first sentence “Elikem married me in absentia” teases; the last sentence, “I still wish that he had been at our wedding, that he, instead of Richard, had given me the ring and the Bible, that he had married me, that he’d wanted me to be his wife, his only wife” tantalises; and the sentences in between excite.
Welcome to the world created by Peace Adzo Medie in her debut novel, ‘His Only Wife’.
Afi, a smart, pretty seamstress, lives an ordinary life with her mother after her father’s death. One day, her mother persuades her to marry Elikem Ganyo, the rich son of their benefactor, Faustina Ganyo. The man her mother wants her to marry is known to her only in name and reputation. Elikem, at the time, is known to have a Liberian woman as his baby mama, but Afi is assured she will soon become history. Reluctantly, she agrees to the wedding.
Her first shock is her husband’s absence at their wedding, which for her uncles and aunts, and other extended family members, is an opportunity to get some money and gifts. For her mother-in-law, her hope is that the marriage will help her get rid of the Liberian woman whose claws are tight on her son’s neck.
The wedding ceremony over, Afi moves to Accra, the Ghanaian capital, but instead of moving into her husband’s home, she is settled into a flat in a building owned by her husband’s brother. Days pass and she only speaks to her husband on phone, at first for a few minutes but, with time, they begin to talk longer. On the day he first visits her, nervousness takes the better part of her, her armpits are moist and her feet are heavy. Her hands are so damp she has to wipe them on her dress to open the door for him. She is shocked to discover he is only visiting and not ready yet to stay with her there or move her into his mansion.
In Accra, she has days of having nothing to do but cook for a husband she is not sure will show up. Her enrolment in a fashion designing school helps to save her from boredom. Her relationship with Richard’s girlfriend, who stays in the flat opposite hers, also opens her eyes to her new world. However, despite her misgiving, she stays so that the financial security her mother wants is intact.
However, with time, her patience runs out and she begins to trouble him about when she will move into his house and he keeps telling her to wait. She reaches a stage that she returns to Ho, their small town, and insists she will only return to Accra if he comes to take her to his mansion. Her mother and mother-in-law’s pleas fall on deaf ears. After some time he shows up in the village and takes her to his mansion, but their relationship is strained.
To make herself independent, she begins to train to become a fashion designer. Her situation is helped by her becoming pregnant with a baby boy and she has the baby. Elikem is overjoyed and this gives her some mileage. Elikem’s sister, however, does not like the ‘trouble’ Afi is giving her brother and seizes every opportunity to let her know that she should be grateful to have been picked from the gutter and polished up. Afi remains adamant, insisting on having her man to herself. Afi’s mother’s relationship with her mother-in-law becomes strained as a result of her insistence on being treated right. With the money Elikem gives her, she builds her mother a house and she leaves the one loaned her by Elikem’s mother.
From time to time, Afi notices strange things about her husband, and her suspicions are confirmed when she discovers text messages in which he professes undying love for his baby mama. This causes altercations between them. But, the camel’s back soon breaks when she stumbles into the baby mama, and the lies Elikem’s family has fed her about the Liberian woman become glaring. They claim she is ugly, but Afi discovers she is a beauty in a special class of her own. Things fall apart at this stage and Medie seems to borrow from the way things turn out most times in life: Unexpected. The plot twist here is a shocker!
Medie depicts a glowing and stunning Accra, and it is difficult not to root for Afi as she settles into the Ghanaian capital. Using masterful and seamless prose, she delivers a story with the capacity to keep the reader tied to the pages.
The characterisations are spot-on, especially her handling of the extended families and her depictions of the power of money. The extended families help to make the novel really hilarious. The rhythm of the storytelling builds the reader’s anticipation, and with themes such as deception, ambition, love, and values strewn all over the pages, and internal and external conflicts here and there, the outcome is an emotional rollercoaster. Stirring, unabashed, this marriage story shines with the power and grace that feminism is known for— with Afi’s voice ringing clear, not confusing and demanding her rights the moment she closes the window on nonsense and becomes a strong woman in a world where men are reluctant to change and, with this growth, she chooses her own path not minding whose ox is gored.
Told in the past tense and narrated by Afi in the first person, ‘His Only Wife’ will make a good movie and it is a good thing it has already been optioned. Afi is a heroine cinema-goers anywhere in the world can relate to and only promoters of patriarchy will fault the actions of this courageous modern woman who breaks her in-laws’ taboos which expects her to be nothing more than a beautiful cook, a dutiful mother, and a submissive wife who respects and does as her husband wishes.
Yishau is a columnist and author.