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Stay with Me: A novel Spiral-Bound | July 10, 2018
Ayobami Adebayo
★★★★☆+ from 50,001 + ratings
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Stay with Me: A novel
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A New York Times Notable Book • “A thoroughly contemporary—and deeply moving—portrait of a marriage.... In the lineage of great works by Chinua Achebe and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.” —The New York Times Book Review
Ilesa, Nigeria. Ever since they first met and fell in love at university, Yejide and Akin have agreed: polygamy is not for them. But four years into their marriage—after consulting fertility doctors and healers, and trying strange teas and unlikely cures—Yejide is still not pregnant. She assumes she still has time—until her in-laws arrive 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.
The unforgettable story of a marriage as seen through the eyes of both husband and wife, Stay With Me asks how much we can sacrifice for the sake of family.
Ilesa, Nigeria. Ever since they first met and fell in love at university, Yejide and Akin have agreed: polygamy is not for them. But four years into their marriage—after consulting fertility doctors and healers, and trying strange teas and unlikely cures—Yejide is still not pregnant. She assumes she still has time—until her in-laws arrive 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.
The unforgettable story of a marriage as seen through the eyes of both husband and wife, Stay With Me asks how much we can sacrifice for the sake of family.
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Original Binding: Trade Paperback
Pages: 272 pages
ISBN-10: 1101974419
Item Weight: 0.6 lbs
Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.8 x 8.0 inches
Customer Reviews: 4 out of 5 stars 50,001 + ratings
A New York Times Notable Book • One of the Best Books of the Year: NPR, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Chicago Tribune, BuzzFeed, Entertainment Weekly, The New York Post, Southern Living, The Skimm
A BEA Buzz Panel Selection • A Belletrist Book-of-the-Month • A Sarah Jessica Parker Book Club Selection • Shortlisted for the 2017 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction • Shortlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize and the 9mobile Prize for Literature • Longlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize
“Powerfully magnetic. . . . In the lineage of great works by Chinua Achebe and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. . . . A thoroughly contemporary—and deeply moving—portrait of a marriage.” —The New York Times Book Review
“An absolute must-read and a story that will be shared for many decades to come.” —Emma Roberts, Refinery29
“[A] stunning literary work [that] serves as both astute political commentary and unfolding mystery.” —NPR
“Scorching, gripping, ultimately lovely.” —Margaret Atwood, Twitter
“Powerful storytelling. . . . The story is ancient, but Adebayo imbues it with a vibrant, contemporary spirit.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“Wise and deeply humane. . . . A powerfully affecting tale of love, loyalty, and betrayal.” —Sarah Jessica Parker
“Stay With Me feels like a genre unto itself—a story that illustrates the necessity of hope and equality, but one that doesn’t water down the challenges of realizing them.” —Vogue
“A triumph—a complex, deeply felt exploration of love, marriage and family amid cultural and political upheaval.” —Chicago Tribune
“A debut that marks the beginning of what should be a stunning career.” —Goop
“Gorgeous. . . . Filled with big-hearted feelings and all kinds of female strength.” —Bustle
“[A] phenomenal novel. . . . Beautiful. . . . A layered story of love, sacrifice and hope . . . Adebayo’s debut is undoubtedly one of the best reads of this year.” —Essence
“A kind of addictive African soap opera, set against the political chaos of Nigeria in the 1980s.” —People
“A gut-wrenching tale of how wanting a child can wreck a woman, a marriage and a community. . . . Adebayo is surely a writer to watch.” —The Economist
“Forcefully affecting. . . . Adebayo’s compassionate chronicle of a fraught marriage speaks to broader national fears, making this family drama feel like an epic.” —The Wall Street Journal
“Heartbreaking. . . . A story of complicated love teetering between tradition and modernity.” —W Magazine
“A work of intimate yet powerful—and even, at times, shocking—storytelling that will . . . make your world bigger.” —Elle
“A bright, big-hearted demonstration of female spirit, as well as the damage done by the boundlessness of male pride.” —The Guardian
“With lyrical prose, Adebayo explores how far a woman will go to save her marriage.” —Real Simple
“Powerful.” —BuzzFeed
“A heartbreakingly beautiful story about love, marriage, and expectation.” —Southern Living
“Adebayo’s prose is a pleasure: immediate, unpretentious and flecked with whip-smart Nigerian-English dialogue.” —The Sunday Times (London)
A BEA Buzz Panel Selection • A Belletrist Book-of-the-Month • A Sarah Jessica Parker Book Club Selection • Shortlisted for the 2017 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction • Shortlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize and the 9mobile Prize for Literature • Longlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize
“Powerfully magnetic. . . . In the lineage of great works by Chinua Achebe and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. . . . A thoroughly contemporary—and deeply moving—portrait of a marriage.” —The New York Times Book Review
“An absolute must-read and a story that will be shared for many decades to come.” —Emma Roberts, Refinery29
“[A] stunning literary work [that] serves as both astute political commentary and unfolding mystery.” —NPR
“Scorching, gripping, ultimately lovely.” —Margaret Atwood, Twitter
“Powerful storytelling. . . . The story is ancient, but Adebayo imbues it with a vibrant, contemporary spirit.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“Wise and deeply humane. . . . A powerfully affecting tale of love, loyalty, and betrayal.” —Sarah Jessica Parker
“Stay With Me feels like a genre unto itself—a story that illustrates the necessity of hope and equality, but one that doesn’t water down the challenges of realizing them.” —Vogue
“A triumph—a complex, deeply felt exploration of love, marriage and family amid cultural and political upheaval.” —Chicago Tribune
“A debut that marks the beginning of what should be a stunning career.” —Goop
“Gorgeous. . . . Filled with big-hearted feelings and all kinds of female strength.” —Bustle
“[A] phenomenal novel. . . . Beautiful. . . . A layered story of love, sacrifice and hope . . . Adebayo’s debut is undoubtedly one of the best reads of this year.” —Essence
“A kind of addictive African soap opera, set against the political chaos of Nigeria in the 1980s.” —People
“A gut-wrenching tale of how wanting a child can wreck a woman, a marriage and a community. . . . Adebayo is surely a writer to watch.” —The Economist
“Forcefully affecting. . . . Adebayo’s compassionate chronicle of a fraught marriage speaks to broader national fears, making this family drama feel like an epic.” —The Wall Street Journal
“Heartbreaking. . . . A story of complicated love teetering between tradition and modernity.” —W Magazine
“A work of intimate yet powerful—and even, at times, shocking—storytelling that will . . . make your world bigger.” —Elle
“A bright, big-hearted demonstration of female spirit, as well as the damage done by the boundlessness of male pride.” —The Guardian
“With lyrical prose, Adebayo explores how far a woman will go to save her marriage.” —Real Simple
“Powerful.” —BuzzFeed
“A heartbreakingly beautiful story about love, marriage, and expectation.” —Southern Living
“Adebayo’s prose is a pleasure: immediate, unpretentious and flecked with whip-smart Nigerian-English dialogue.” —The Sunday Times (London)
AYOBAMI ADEBAYO’s stories have appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies, and one was highly commended in the 2009 Commonwealth Short Story Competition. She holds BA and MA degrees in literature in English from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, and has worked as an editor for Saraba Magazine since 2009. Adebayo also has an MA in creative writing from the University of East Anglia, where she was awarded an international bursary for creative writing. She has received fellowships and residencies from Ledig House, Sinthian Cultural Centre, Hedgebrook, Ox-Bow School of Art, Ebedi Hills and the Siena Art Institute. She was born in Lagos, Nigeria.