I read somewhere, that one of the worst points to ever reach in life, as a human, is becoming numb to tragedy. The same situation could be likened to us readers. If we ever reach a point where tragedy is the order of the day, and it no longer elicits emotions whatsoever in us, I’m afraid the beauty of that fictional work is lost.
Stay with me written by Ayobami Adebayo, tells the story of a childless woman, Yejide. Married to Akin, she is pestered by both their families to allow Akin marry a second wife who will bear a child for him. On one of her in-laws spontaneous visits, Yejide is introduced to a woman - Funmi, Akin’s second wife.
Disappointed in her husband, she channels more time into her hair styling business, the only thing that wouldn’t be betray her, asides her own child. Amidst all these, Yejide earnestly looks forward to having a child of her own one day. A prayer that may have been answered, had it not been fooled at a very early stage.
Books like these, never prepare you for what is between the pages. It never prepares you for the twists, the shocking reveals, and worst of all, the recurring tragedy embedded in the pages. I’ve seen so many reviews on social media, telling how sad this book left them but experiencing it firsthand, was a different thing entirely. I wanted the characters story to change one way or another, disregarding the fact that it was fiction and there’s no way i could change the fate of what is written already.
Tragedy strikes the first time, grief settles in, and soon enough, we learn to live with it. It strikes the second time, amd one begins to feel targeted. Replaying everything that happened, to avoid a reoccurrence. But you know what happens, when it happens the third time? Acceptance. That feeling of numbness I talked about in the first paragraph, is what settles in. Yejide’s experience had me grasping at straws, and hoping that all was going to be well in the end.
It’s probably the way the author worded the story, making every scene hit more than the others, and making sure we were as stupefied as we were heartbroken. I loved it actually. That’s because, it left me no choice but to stay neutral. I couldn’t even pick sides. Every character’s actions were irredeemable and I just read it, felt their pain but didn’t relate to any of the situations they were in.
For the record, I judged so many characters in this book. Why will you actually sleep with your husband’s brother consecutively? That’s a very insane thing to do as a comeback. There’s no justification for that in my books. You see that instance i just gave? That’s just one of the many insanities that went down in this book. Want to know more? Check out the book.
I loved this book regardless of everything that was portrayed. It was intriguing, held a steady pace from start to finish, and didn’t bore me any way. I’ll rate the book a 7/10. Aside the tragic happenings and the unstable characters, every other thing was perfect. You should check out this one if you’re into this genre. It’s a worthy read nonetheless.
Thanks for reading.
Image above is a screenshot taken from my e-library.