His Only Wife

The book is set in Ghana. A rich man falls in love and has children with a Liberian woman who his family cannot hate. So his family makes him marry a proper Ghanaian woman (in absentee) in hopes he will leave the Liberian woman who they believe has a mysterious hold over him. The man and his new wife fall in love, but is he ready to give up his other family?What I liked:I loved the fact that this was set in Ghana. It made me pay attention because the culture is so different. Especially when it comes to how they treat immediate and extended family. I liked that the protagonist stood strong for what she believed in - especially in a culture where so many people are involved in your decision makingWhat I didn’t like:I wish on the audible version the book was read by someone who had or used an African accent. The audible was a bit white washed for me.

This story of a young woman in Ghana is perhaps a bit bittersweet but ends just exactly the way it needs to for the protagonist. The heroine Afi is from a small village. She's poor, living with her widowed mother in a hardscrabble life, but she is also beautiful and has excellent sewing skills.When the matriarch of a very powerful and rich Ghanaian family arranges for Afi to be married to her son Eli, Afi has no choice but to agree. It's the way to improve her and her mother's situation in life. So she is married by proxy (Eli's brother Richard stands in for him at the traditional Ghanaian wedding ceremony) and then is sent off to the big city (Accra) to live in a luxurious apartment where she is somewhat overwhelmed by her new modern life. A new life without a husband in it since Eli does not show himself for several months.It turns out that Eli is in love, but not with her. He has had a Liberian mistress for several years and only married Afi because of pressure put on him by his dysfunctional family, who do not like his mistress and will not allow him to marry her. He and his mistress and their daughter live in his primary residence. As Afi becomes more and more aware of her new life and situation, she realizes that things aren't the way they should be.The mistress remains somewhat of an unknown throughout the story. Eli, who finally does visit Afi and even becomes a part-time husband to her, refuses to talk about his situation or the woman. The only information Afi gets is from Eli's family, who are hostile to the woman and give Afi only disinformation and misinformation about the woman and Eli's relationship to her. The woman is ugly and horrid. Just be patient. Give Eli time. He will give her up and be devoted only to you.But this book is more than a story about Afi's marriage to Eli. It's the story of an unsophisticated, naive village girl coming into her own in the big city. In Accra Afi goes to fashion design school. She learns to stand up for herself. She becomes a career woman. She makes a good friend in the woman living in the apartment across the hall from hers, a woman who just happens to be the mistress of Eli's brother Richard. And she finally learns the truth about where she stands in her marriage.This is very readable and enjoyable and educational. I learned a good deal about life and traditions and customs in Ghana. How different some things are from life in the U.S. But it was also obvious from the reading that people and love are basically the same in both countries."Afi grows up" could be the theme of this story which revolves around her and mainly lets us know her thoughts and feelings. Eli remains a handsome, usually pleasant, entity whose thoughts and feelings are never divulged. The other woman is a total mystery until the very end. And if you're looking for a 100% HEA to this Ghanaian "romance," you won't find it, but the ending is understandable and satisfactory.

Loved this book! Wondering now if there will be another….I’m invested in Afi and want to know what happens next!

The story had such a captivating opener that I expected to be locked in on every page. Instead, I found countless useless details which had me incredibly bored. The plot itself was great but underdeveloped and I felt as though some pages were included simply to make the word count. I see this is a missed opportunity to properly expound on important customs, and a failed opportunity to humanize and give ear to those who have similar situations at play in their lives. This was shockingly underwhelming and I would have liked more character development, a stronger plot, more feeling, and less meaningless descriptions.

I had this book for a while, but for some reason kept putting of reading it. It was really good, but i didn't understand why the author kept introducing secondary characters, but never followed through for some juicy drama. Set in Ghana, Afi is selected by the rich Ganyos family, actually the matriarch known as Aunty to marry her favorite son, Eli and get him away from the woman that Aunty and his family despises. Afi and her mother are treated very well by Aunty the past several years and look upon this opportunity as such a great and grand gesture. Afi is to wed Eli and get him out of the clutches of this manly rude woman who keeps Eli away from his family and his daughter who is sickly away from his family as well. Afi is wed but with stand-in as Eli is out of town on business and Afi wonders what type of important business pulls a man away from his wedding. She is placed in a townhome with all the creature comforts but doesn't meet her husband for 8 weeks. Plenty of drama ensues and Afi tries to get Eli to visit and talk to her. She gets her wish and Eli notices her and the wo have great chemistry and consummate the marriage. Afi believes all is well as Eli tells her to be patient. After a year of the nonsense and Afi going to fashion school, apprenticeship and getting her life in order without Eli she becomes a force to be reckon with but still naive at age 21. She is now in love and wants Eli to leave his mistress and live with her his wife as the roles are reverse. She makes several ultimatums and realizes during a discovery the truth with Eli his woman, Aunty and the rest of the family. It was good, but to me ended abruptly and author kept introducing folks who later had no relevance, but could have definitely stirred the pot for a juicy plot of conflict.

I’m so impressed. While I have visited Ghana, I can’t remember reading a book set there that captures the culture—especially of women—as vividly as this one does. This story is both contemporary and ancient. It involves a clash of cultures within cultures and does a superb job of coalescing multiple themes in a tight story about a fierce heroine. This book can be read for pure entertainment as well as for intellectual illumination. I didn’t want it to end, yet it left me feeling hopeful and like Afi, the MC, would endure and thrive long after I said goodbye to her. I really loved it!

I really enjoyed this book it was interesting and was a page turnerI did nor think it would be that interesting but I was hooked from the first page.

Very interesting read.

The coming of age of the protagonist (Afi) told in a witful manner. Towards the end I found the book to drag a little but later on picks up the pace leaving you wanting to find out more.

This was one of the best books I’ve read this year. After going to Ghana in December and falling in love with it it has been hard to accept the reality that travelling may not be happening any time soon. In this book the vivid imagery describes Accra exactly like it is. I’ve been able to travel through reading and also Afi is a super relatable character who’s coming of age from naive young girl to bold woman and mother is so beautiful to watch.

This is a book which engages the reader from the start, and holds their attention to the end. Its portrayal of the struggle of adjusting to modernisation is beautifully expressed. I read it as part of a literature course and found it hard to put down.