Synopsis:

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024

‘Remarkable’ Chika Unigwe, author of On Black Sisters’ Street

Peace Adzo Medie, author of Reese’s Book Club pick His Only Wife , returns with a moving novel about the unbreakable power of female friendship.

When Selasi and Akorfa were young girls in Ghana, they were more than just cousins; they were inseparable. Selasi was exuberant and funny, Akorfa quiet and studious. They would do anything for each other, imploring their parents to let them be together, sharing their secrets and desires and private jokes.

Then Selasi begins to change, becoming hostile and quiet; her grades suffer and she builds a space around herself, shutting Akorfa out. Meanwhile, Akorfa is accepted to an American university with the goal of becoming a doctor. Although hopeful that she can create a fuller life as a woman in America, she discovers the insidious ways that racism places obstacles in her path once she leaves Ghana. It takes a crisis to bring the friends back together, with Selasi’s secret revealed and Akorfa forced to reckon with her role in their estrangement.

A riveting depiction of class and family in Ghana, a compelling exploration of memory, and an eye-opening story of life as an African-born woman in the United States, Nightbloom is above all a gripping and beautifully written novel attesting to the strength of female bonds in the face of societies that would prefer to silence women.

‘I was hooked on Peace’s writing! I found Nightbloom a blistering story, written with razor sharp precision.’ Huma Qureshi, author of Things We Do Not Tell the People We Love

When I was invited to join the paperback blog tour for Nightbloom by Peace Adzo Medie, I decided to jump on board. I’d read and enjoyed her debut book His Only Wife, and I’d hoped to read Nightbloom when it was first released but couldn’t fit it in my schedule. I’m happy I made time for this one! Nightbloom is engrossing, illuminating, and empowering. A story about two Ghanian cousins who were best friends as children but their lives took them on different paths, despite unknowingly experiencing similar traumas. 

I refused to believe that God had created me to suffer.

Peace Adzo Medie, Nightbloom

In the first part of Nightbloom we get Akorfa’s story from her point of view, while the second part of the book is from Selasi’s point of view. I wasn’t expecting this shift, so at first it took me by surprise—and I didn’t know if I’d like leaving Akorfa—but I ended up liking Selasi’s point of view even more. It’s eye-opening to see the same events through different eyes. If the idea of repetition in a book dissuades you, Selasi’s story is much more concise, and while there are some of the same scenes, they’re fresh when seen through new eyes.

Medie’s technique here is smart. By the time I arrived at Selasi’s side of the story, I had formed opinions and ideas of my own thanks to Akorfa, but those beliefs were shattered by Selasi’s point of view. It’s a good reminder that we all experience things in different ways, and while we may think we know what someone else is thinking or feeling, we don’t really know unless we communicate with one another.