His Only Wife is Peace Adzo Medie’s debut novel, and she absolutely nailed it! The story is about Afi Tekple, who is about to get married to someone she has never met.
His Only Wife is Peace Adzo Medie’s debut novel, and she absolutely nailed it! The story is about Afi Tekple, who is about to get married to someone she has never met. You are wondering how, right? Let me give you a little brief: Afi lost her father, and her widowed mom had support from a rich woman. So when this woman asked that Afi marry her son, they felt indebted to her and had to say yes.
For a while, all the writers I was reading were Nigerian, so when a friend recommended His Only Wife, I was excited. The very first line went, “Elikem married me in absentia; he did not come for our wedding.” I was like, yo! What is going on???????? Your husband didn’t come to your wedding? Mad!
I was hooked!
His Only Wife is about fighting for your place in the life of the man your mother married you off to. You want to do everything possible to win his love because, to you, that’s the only way he will stop seeing his “other wife.”
The story got exhausting when I realized all the things Afi was doing and going through. They say most arranged marriages work, but this particular one was a big, fat no.
Reading the book made me understand what African marriages meant. The husband’s family always wants to have a say in the marriage. They want access to their son or brother like they did before he was married. But in fact, it’s not supposed to be like that.
I remember there was a part of the book where the mother-in-law wanted to dictate to Afi how to run her home. I lost it! But why? Was it her marriage? Technically, it was because she was the one who arranged Afi’s marriage for her son, but still…
A friend of Elikem said to him one day that “man wasn’t made to be with one woman. You’re a lion; you should have an entire pride!” I laughed 😂😂😂. Excuse me, say what???
Let me not spoil this anymore. I was in love with His Only Wife from the beginning. The fact that the book was set in Ghana and had an Ewe touch took me to the moon. Because, in case you don’t know, I’m a proud Ewe girl!
I thoroughly enjoyed His Only Wife, and I hope you do too.
Being a reader is my entire personality.
October 12, 2021 .
africanliterature, chimamanda, cna, zikora
Hopefully, the reading of a book as this will enlighten men and generally educate people in the making of the right choices regarding amatory unions.
READ MORE
February 19, 2022 .
africanliterature, black, Book review, British Nigerian, lizziedamilolablackburn, Nigerian, Self growth, yinkawhereisyourhuzband
READ MORE
January 26, 2025 .
africanliterature, sharjah
READ MORE
November 12, 2023 .
africanliterature
In these tales, women are portrayed as clever and tricky individuals, while men’s descent into madness is often a response to these traits.
READ MORE
December 4, 2023 .
africanliterature
READ MORE
February 3, 2025 .
africanliterature
When Love Visits is a contemporary romance novel that narrates how Uju and Tade, both in their thirties and successful fall in love at first sight.
READ MORE
May 7, 2022 .
africanliterature, miracleemekankwor, whathappenedtojanetuzor
Ebere has a theory that a killer is out there that claims his victim every Christmas, and she believes their best friend Janet was one of his victims.
READ MORE
May 6, 2026 .
Lists, MCU
Spider-Man is one of the many superheroes from the Marvel Universe whose stories shaped many childhoods. Who is your strongest Spiderman?
READ MORE
October 28, 2025 .
Lists, Marvel, MCU, Opinions
Let’s go through a list of the top 7 strongest Marvel villains, from the wickedly powerful to the absolutely unstoppable.
READ MORE
July 20, 2025 .
Animation, Lists
Our list rounds up the top 30 cartoon characters that were villains, each one more wonderfully wicked than the last.
READ MORE
April 29, 2026 .
Lists, Opinions
The Mouse is famous for its princesses and princes. However, the studio’s true genius lies in its embrace of “ugly Disney characters”.
READ MORE
June 25, 2026 .
Lists, Opinions
If Game of Thrones taught us anything, it’s that the characters we hate the most tend to outlive everyone else.
READ MORE
Get our magazine for free!
