Maame by Jessica George

“Maame” has many meanings in Twi, but in my case, it means “woman.”

Madeleine “Maddie” Wright is a 25-year-old woman living with her father in London. Maddie’s parents are Ghanaian, her father has advanced Parkinson’s, and her mother spends most of her time living in Ghana. Maddie is her father’s main caretaker, works as an administrator’s assistant at a theatre, and spends her time between these two roles. When Maddie’s mother calls to tell her she will be returning to London for a year, she realizes she is free to move out and start living life.

As Maddie starts experiencing many “firsts,” including her first after-work drinks, first flat-share, and entrance into the world of online dating, it is not all roses. She is fired unfairly from her job, dating is a challenge, her mother is over-bearing, tragedy strikes her family, and she must try to navigate it all alone because, as her mother always told her, she should not tell others what is happening in her private life/family.

This story deals with a lot, but it does so really beautifully. It deals with family obligations, cultural differences, the complexity of love, racism, grief, mental health, and more. While I felt for Maddie in all of these aspects, it didn’t feel like it was packed with these elements unnecessarily. The story felt real, and from the author’s brief bio, I think it was likely based partly on life experience.

Maddie is such a likeable character, so it was a delight to hear her inner thoughts, but also difficult when she was dealing with so much in her life. With Maddie being a bit of a late bloomer, there are a lot of coming of age moments she has not experienced and she relies on Google for everything. Her Google questions and results were a charming aspect of the book. The audiobook was beautifully narrated by Heather Agyepong, a London photographer of Ghanaian decent, which added to the story.

Check out Maame by Jessica George for yourself from the Library (https://catalog.lclibs.org/polaris/search/title.aspx…) or listen through the eLibrary at https://lclibs.overdrive.com/media/8916760.