Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo: book review

Stay with Me (2017) is set in Nigeria in the 1980s, and up to 2008.

Yejide and Akin met at university, and were married soon afterwards. Four years into their marriage, Yejide is still not pregnant. Pressures from parents and society result in Yejide, Akin, and their families doing whatever they can to make it happen – ethically or not.

From the trek to the Mountain of Jaw-Dropping Miracles to other methods of bringing children into their lives, people wonder if Yejide is crazy.

Yejide finally falls pregnant, and then the secrets are revealed. What has everyone sacrificed for this miracle? Do children in a marriage guarantee security, love, and permanence? Does it solve all problems? Who is right and who is wrong; who does what they believe is right, and do they even know right from wrong? Is it so wrong to desire children above all else?

There is little description in this novel, as dialogue is the main vehicle to evoke feelings. Coupled with the narrative written in the first person, from both perspectives, readers see both points of view, and why it children are so important in this marriage. Both Yejide and Akin express their feelings, the reasons for marrying each other, and the growing strain of their childless marriage. Even when children enter their lives, the strain and tension remain.

Stay with Me is about exactly that: convincing the other partner to stay in the marriage. This is a novel of lies, deceit, loss and grief, set amid the political environment of Nigeria. It is a novel of tradition, superstition, jealousy, outrage, drama, tragedy, and what it takes to sustain a teenage love affair and a marriage.

While this novel is well-written, with all emotions on the table, and fully-developed characters, it does get rather melodramatic at times.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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