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I love it when characters stress me out. For me, a memorable read is one that makes me slam the book shut, then open it right back up ranting on social media or texting a buddy reader who gets the chaos these characters put me through. Even when I don’t agree with their actions, I often rate the book highly because its characters left me with such a strong reaction.
In our latest book recommendation, we have compiled a list of books with characters who will leave you emotionally wrecked, the kind you will remember long after the final page. From unreliable romantic partners to a tangled love triangle involving a father and son, these books promise a memorable reading experience.
Read our recommendations below:
STAY WITH ME
author: AYỌ̀BÁMI ADÉBÁYỌ̀
Genre: FICTION
Yejide and Akin have been inseparable since they met and fell in love at university. Four years of marriage, countless visits to fertility doctors and healers and trying every remedy from herbal teas to improbable cures, Yejide is still not pregnant. She believes there’s still time, until her family shows up unannounced with a young woman they introduce as Akin’s second wife. Stunned, heartbroken and burning with jealousy, Yejide becomes convinced that the only way to save her marriage is to conceive. And she finally does but at a cost more devastating than she could ever have imagined. This book is emotionally driven, particularly by the actions of characters under societal and familial pressure.
DREAM COUNT
AUTHOR: CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE
GENRE: fiction
Chiamaka, a Nigerian travel writer living in America, finds herself alone during the pandemic, reflecting on past lovers and wrestling with her choices and regrets. Her best friend, Zikora—a high-achieving lawyer—suddenly finds her world upended by betrayal. Meanwhile, Chiamaka’s outspoken cousin Omelogor, a financial powerhouse in Nigeria, begins to question how well she truly knows herself. And Kadiatou, Chiamaka’s housekeeper, is proudly raising her daughter in America, until an unimaginable hardship threatens everything she has worked so hard to build.
As we follow these four women, we follow them as they navigate life and relationships, joined by other unforgettable characters who are bound to test your patience.
SECOND-CLASS CITIZEN
authOR: BUCHI EMECHETA
GENRE: fiction
In her semi-autobiographical novel published over 50 years ago, Emecheta traces the migration from Nigeria to London through the eyes of a determined protagonist. We see how a Nigerian woman confronts the strict patriarchal structures of her society and overcomes numerous setbacks—including an abusive partner, racism and poverty—to build an independent life for herself and her children. The protagonist, Adah Ofili, is a resolute woman, a true fighter who dares to challenge societal norms.
Cassava Republic Press is proud to announce the launch of their inaugural $20,000 Global Black Women’s Non-Fiction Manuscript Prize dedicated to exceptional works by Black women. Deadline: 30th June 2024. Learn more here.
YOU MADE A FOOL OF DEATH WITH YOUR BEAUTY
AUTHOR: aKWAEKE EMEZI
GENRE: fiction
Feyi Adekola wants to learn how to feel alive again. It’s been five years since the accident that claimed the love of her life, and she’s nearly unrecognizable now—an artist with her own studio, living in a Brooklyn brownstone with her ride-or-die best friend, Joy, who is convinced it is time for Feyi to reenter the dating world. Feyi isn’t looking for anything serious, but a steamy encounter sets off a summer she never saw coming: a lavish getaway to a tropical island, indulgent meals at the home of a famous chef, and a major curator eager to launch her art career. She even finds herself dating the ‘perfect guy’, until a forbidden spark threatens to derail everything. Every time Feyi meets the gaze of the one person she absolutely shouldn’t want, desire threatens to undo her carefully rebuilt world.
HIS ONLY WIFE
Author: PEACE ADZO MEDIE
Genre: fiction
Living in a small Ghanaian town with her widowed mother, Afi Tekple spends much of her time in her uncle Pious’s crowded household, surrounded by his many wives and children. Then, a surprising opportunity arises—a marriage proposal from the wealthy family of Elikem Ganyo, a man she barely knows. Afi agrees, but she quickly learns that Elikem is not the ideal match she was promised. He sends a stand-in to their wedding, and it is only weeks later—after she’s been moved into a luxurious apartment in Accra—that Afi finally meets her husband. She soon discovers he is in love with another woman his family refuses to accept.
TOMORROW I BECOME A WOMAN
AUTHOR: AIWANOSE ODAFEN
GENRE: FICTION
When Gozie and Obianuju meet in August 1978, it is nothing short of fate. Gozie reminds Obianuju of her beloved Uncle Ikenna, who disappeared fighting in the Civil War. Which is why, when Gozie proposes just months after they meet, she says yes—despite her unresolved, complicated feelings for Akin, a man her mother would never accept because his tribe fought on the opposing side during the war.
Loosely inspired by the real-life experiences of women known to the author, Tomorrow I Become a Woman traces the complex relationship between a mother and daughter as they struggle to come to terms with profound loss.
aOGADINMA
authOR: ukAMAKA OLISAKWE
GENRE: fiction
Ogadinma (or Everything Will be All Right) tells the story of the naïve and trusting teenager Ogadinma as she battles against Nigeria’s societal expectations in the 1980s. After a rape and unwanted pregnancy leave her exiled from her family in Kano, thwarting her plans to go to university, she is sent to her aunt’s in Lagos and pressured into a marriage with an older man⎈
