Stay With Me by Adebayo Ayobami

Summary:

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. An electrifying novel of enormous emotional power, Stay With Measks how much we can sacrifice for the sake of family.

My Thoughts:

      I don't think this book would have found its way into my hands without the MMD Book Club. It is a touching, sad, funny and beautiful story of love, loss and finding out what you can live with and what you can't. Stay With Me is set in the political upheaval of Nigeria that echos the upheaval of family and love
     I loved learning about the customs and superstitions of this culture and also how younger generations bridged between modern living and old beliefs.  Pressures are high to conform to some of the cultural norms (many wives and children) but not to others (not educating women). Yejide and especially Akin are caught between their own wants and the expectations of their families.
     Yejide was a very strong female character and I felt her pain and loss. She very much loved Akin and even though she felt betrayed by him she still loved him.  She still chose to be his wife. Akin was a character that I liked at first but as the story went on, I liked him less and less.  He is truly devoted to Yejide but I found him weak and hypocritical.  
     Stay With Me is a very emotional but beautiful book and I am so glad that I read it and was able to discuss it with others.  4.5/5 stars

Author's site: http://www.ayobamiadebayo.com/