Maame

Maddie is cooking in the kitchen while her dad is watching television in the other room.  With the help of a medical caretaker, she has been her father’s sole support for the past few years – she works in an office to support them, fixes meals, and puts him to bed.  Her mother is back in Ghana and her brother is, well, anywhere but home.  Maddie’s nickname in the family is “Maame” – Tui for “woman” – and she has fulfilled that role in her family for quite some time.

Jessica George pulls on personal experience of her London-based upbringing with Ghanaian parents to weave Maddie’s story in Maame of trying to find her genuine self while stepping out of her family’s expectations.  This somewhat autobiographical story feels emotional and like reading a personal journal recounting daily struggles to deal with loss, dating, and friendship.  However, that personal closeness to the story may have done George a disservice here – aspects of the narrative and the characters felt underdeveloped like the author was not able to step back and write uninfluenced by the knowledge of what was coming for them.

I give Maame 3 out of 5 stars.  I almost put this book down after the first few pages solely because of the abrupt and in-your-face conversation about sex – it was too much too soon for the characters involved.  The story felt more like a passion project than a well-developed novel.  While I found characters lacking, I appreciated the details around the Ghanaian culture and the struggles some immigrant’s children face assimilating to both their family’s culture and that of their neighborhood.  The descriptions of food and customs left me wanting to learn more about them, but the descriptions could have been so much more vibrant.  I also appreciated the discussions about how anxiety, stress, and depression can overtake someone’s life without their own realization – the book addresses the stigma around mental health and fights to normalize Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (aka: talk therapy).

Given the consistent and almost over discussed topic of sexual relationships, I would recommend this book for audiences over 16.  I would also recommend Maame to readers experiencing a loss or depression, especially readers who are immigrants or minorities in their neighborhood.  With a heavy theme of loss, this book may not be the right choice for all readers going through similar situations.

I chose Maame for the Booklist Queen reading challenge prompt “A Mother-Daughter Story”.  It was also my choice for Mother’s Day.  With a heavy theme of Maddie’s relationship and interactions with her mother, this book fit that category well.  It was also my Book of the Month selection for March and I was very excited to read it.  However, as you can tell by my rating, this book left me a bit disappointed.  I feel that a little more refinement and editing of the story, as well as more character development would have increased my rating by at least one star.  Have you read Maame yet?  Drop a note in the comments to tell me what you thought about this one!

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What I’m Reading

• Current print book: Communication for Change Management, Gifford Thomas
• Current audio book: none – taking a break
• Book I’m most looking forward to: Swan Light, Phoebe Rowe