Stay With Me

Description

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2017 BAILEYS WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTIONSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2018 WELLCOME BOOK PRIZELONGLISTED FOR THE 2018 INTERNATIONAL DYLAN THOMAS PRIZENEW YORK TIMES 100 NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2017'There are things even love can't do . . . If the burden is too much and stays too long, even love bends, cracks, comes close to breaking and sometimes does break. But even when it's in a thousand pieces around your feet, that doesn't mean it's no longer love . . .'Yejide is hoping for a miracle, for a child. It is all her husband wants, all her mother-in-law wants, and she has tried everything - arduous pilgrimages, medical consultations, appeals to God. But when her relatives insist upon a new wife, it is too much for Yejide to bear. It will lead to jealousy, betrayal and despair.Unravelling against the social and political turbulence of 1980s Nigeria, Stay With Me sings with the voices, colours, joys and fears of its surroundings. Adebayo weaves a devastating story of the fragility of married love, the undoing of family, the wretchedness of grief, and the all-consuming bonds of motherhood.

Promotion info

Baileys Shortlist 2017

Awards

Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction Shortlist 2017

 

Reviews

Ayobami Adebayo is an extremely talented and sensitive writer ... Fantastic -- Uzodinma Iweala, author of Beasts of No Nation Colourful, vibrant, energetic - a stunning tale of what happens when societal expectations collide with reality -- Tendai Huchu, author of The Hairdresser of Harare A compulsive read ... Just brilliant. Adebayo is an astounding storyteller - an exciting addition to the emerging voices in African writing -- Jennifer Makumbi, author of Kintu and winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Competition Just when I thought I knew where the story was going, suddenly I was left wondering all over again. I read it late into the night - Ayobami Adebayo definitely owes me several hours of sleep! -- Chibundu Onuzo, author of The Spider King's Daughter

Author description

Ayobami Adebayo's stories have appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies, and one was highly commended in the 2009 Commonwealth Short Story Competition. She holds BA and MA degrees in Literature in English from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife. She also has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia where she was awarded an international bursary for creative writing. Ayobami has been the recipient of fellowships and residencies from Ledig House, Hedgebrook, Threads, Ebedi Hills and Ox-Bow. She was born in Lagos, Nigeria.