Nightbloom by Peace Adzo Medie
Review by Pat D. (pat0814)
Cousins Selasi and Akorfa are born in Ghana on the same day, and become integral to each other’s lives through their childhood. Despite their different personalities and different family situations, they are inseparable until Selasi’s mother dies in childbirth, and she is sent to live with her grandmother and extended family. Akorfa studies diligently with the hope of becoming a neurosurgeon after graduating from an American university. She is admitted to Pitt, and very upset with having to deal with insidious forms of racism. Selasi eventually flourishes as a restaurant owner until she has a dispute with a high-ranking political figure.
Akorfa and Selasi’s stories are told in two different parts of the novel, leading to a better understanding of the rift that developed between them. As adult women, they are forced to deal together with the common atrocity that both endured separately. There is a common theme in this book of families worried about what others think of them, and achieving perceived prestige at any cost.
Algonquin continues its tradition of publishing noteworthy books. I will read whatever they publish.
4 stars
