Published by St. Martin's Press Genres: coming of age, Contempory, Literary Fiction
Format: ARC, eBook
Family can be messy.
Maddie is the primary care giver for her father who has Parkinson’s, while her mother resides most of the time in Ghana. Her brother, James resides locally but is not very involved. Maddie also has a job but finds it to be unfulfilling.
Her mother is overbearing to say the least. She wants Maddie to date and get married. She also cites bible verses and always seems to know what is best for her daughter, even though she has been absent for a huge portion of her life.
Maddie is a people pleaser and does not put herself first. She is mature beyond her years in many ways, and not mature at all in others. When her mother comes back to London, Maddie moves into a flat and experiences living with roommate. Maddie makes a list of things the new Maddie should do and embraces them. Along the way, she has many new experiences – some good; some bad.
When Maddie and her family are dealing with horrible news, Maddie must face some “truths” and begins to grow in many aspects of her life.
Maddie was an interesting character, and I wanted many times to tell her to stand up for herself and be strong. To make her voice known and put her foot down. I felt her brother and mother were constantly asking too much from her yet never really took the time to get to know her. I enjoyed and cheered for her as Maddie began to grow and find her voice and footing.
This was a coming-of-age story that looks at culture, family, friendship, responsibility, loyalty, love, and growth. There is also the aspect of the power of a name. Our names are huge part of our identity. Maddie is called Maame from an early age. A name that means woman. She felt the responsibility and power of that name all her life. I found this to be a very interesting part of the story.
I enjoyed the second half of the book more than the first part, mainly because I was happy to see change occurring.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.