Ghana Must Go
-
-
4.1 • 26 Ratings
-
-
- £6.99
-
- £6.99
Publisher Description
A stunning novel, spanning generations and continents, Ghana Must Go is a tale of family drama and forgiveness, for fans of Zadie Smith and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Meet the Sais, a Nigerian-Ghanaian family living in the United States. A family prospering until the day father and surgeon Kweku Sai is victim of a grave injustice. Ashamed, he abandons his beautiful wife Fola and their little boys and girls, causing the family to fracture and spiral out into the world - New York, London, West Africa, New England - on uncertain, troubled journeys until, many years later, tragedy unites them. Now this broken family has a chance to heal - but can the Sais take it?
'Ghana Must Go is both a fast moving story of one family's fortunes and an ecstatic exploration of the inner lives of its members. With her perfectly-pitched prose and flawless technique, Selasi does more than merely renew our sense of the African novel: she renews our sense of the novel, period. An astonishing debut' Teju Cole, author of Open City
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Selasi's gorgeous debut is a thoughtful look at how the sacrifices we make for our family can be its very undoing. After arriving in America from Ghana, a promising but penniless young man, Kweku Sai, becomes a famed surgeon living in Boston with his wife, Fola, and children, proof of the American dream. Years later, now 57 and married to another woman, Kweku, back in Ghana, is dying in the garden of his home in Accra. After his death, Fola and their four grown children gather in Ghana for the funeral of the man who abandoned them 16 years ago. This emotional reunion reveals to what extent Kweku fractured his beloved family by leaving them. The twins, Taiwo and Kehinde, once inseparable, have not spoken in 18 months; wounded by something neither will disclose, their bond has been eroded by anguish. Olu, the eldest, emulates his father in business but wants his marriage to be "something better than" the family he knows. And the youngest, Sadie, feels inadequate in the shadow of her successful siblings. Reminiscent of Jhumpa Lahiri but with even greater warmth and vibrancy, Selasi's novel, driven by her eloquent prose, tells the powerful story of a family discovering that what once held them together could make them whole again.
Customer Reviews
Great read
I loved this book. The language and imagery is simply amazing, and it tells a story that 'moves on' from the usual story of immigrants in foreign lands. Great read!
Ghana Must Go
A beautiful, gripping tale written in language that can only be described as stunning. I stepped into this book and was genuinely sad when the journey ended. At its heart this is a story about immigrants and the fragility of assumed assimilation. Taiye Selasi employed such rich language and imagery that at the end I felt I had enjoyed a rich satisfying meal, never to be repeated again. Warning: This book spoils you for others. I can't wait for her next book.
Excellent book
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.