We follow Afi, a young lower-middle class Ghanaian woman, through the ups and downs of her unusual marriage to Eli, a very wealthy and well-connected businessman. Expectations of family and society combine with the influence of love and money to put Afi in some awkward - and often hilarious - situations.

The tone is set from the first line: "Elikem married me in absentia; he did not come to our wedding." Such absurdities stretch credulity to the limit, but are handled deftly and never quite overstep.

This is fast-paced, easy reading, immersive and great fun; I enjoyed it immensely.

The book was well written and the story between Afi and Eli was compelling. Loved the idea of love is different for all and no one should given in.

His Only Wife was an entertaining and thoughtful character-driven story. The action moved along at a good pace and the characters were well fleshed out. However, I did struggle a bit to accept the depth of Afi and Eli's love. Also, the fact she went in knowing there was already another woman on the scene made it hard for me to accept her attitude later when she presented herself as the wronged party. Sure, his family gave a lot of misleading information, but she didn't enter into the relationship blind. Still, those minor gripes aside, this was a pleasing read that held my attention throughout, and it was interesting to learn more about marriage customs and social expectations in Ghana, since it's a country I know very little about. Recommended for readers of contemporary fiction who enjoy multicultural stories.

(My review will go live on my blog at the provided link on 8 March 2021, at which time I will also share across social media and on Goodreads.)

I loved this book! There was so much heart in Afi’s story as someone who refused to compromise on her idea of love, despite family and cultural pressures. What an ultimately fierce and brilliant character she is.

Very good; I was initially unsure I would engage with this book as I had to read it in a short time frame for work, but Afi and Eli's relationship was compelling - as was Afi's attitudes to her traditional Ghanaian upbringing. For fans of Chimamanda, Candace and Abi.

“All men are the same, they only know how to love themselves and to sit on women.”


His Only Wife is an engrossing story that hooked me from the very first line: “Elikem married me in absentia; he did not come to our wedding.”. The novel tells the story of Afi, a young woman who works as a seamstress in a small town in Ghana. When Faustina Ganyo, her benefactor who also happens to be her widowed mother's boss, arranges her marriage to her own son, Afi views it as a great honour and a lifetime opportunity. She feels indebted to Aunty and wants to please her own mother. Before the marriage Afi is informed of Elikem's particular situation: he has a daughter with a woman from Liberia, whom is hated by the Ganyos. Afi is meant to replace her, to bring Elikem back into the fold of the Ganyo family.
Once in Accra, Afi finds herself growing restless. In spite of her beautiful new apartment and her newly acquired wealth, she questions the validity of her marriage: after all, she only saw her Elikem years previously and has yet to meet him as her husband. Her Aunty, her brother-in-law, and her mother try to placate her anxiety, telling her tall-tales about the 'Liberian woman' who has brainwashed him and of Elikem's daughter poor health. When Afi finally gets to meet her husband she finds herself falling head-over-heels for him. He's attractive, influential, and Afi is willing to conform to the role of ideal wife for him.
As time passes, and Afi begins studying fashion and bonding with her brother-in-law's lover, she begins to chafe against the constraints imposed by the Ganyos, who time and again tell her not too demand too much from her husband, and remind her—subtly and not—of the advantages brought by her marrying 'upward'. When Afi grows increasingly jealous of the 'Liberian woman', she begins to disregards the Ganyos' and her husband's wishes and demands.

Quotidian spaces and seemingly ordinary conversations lead to fraught disagreements and disconcerting realisations. Afi's flashy new abode is the setting of many tense scenes, with her husband, the Ganyos', her mother. The drama 'caused' by the 'Liberian woman' creates a lot of conflict between Afi and her husband (and the Ganyos in general). As Afi grows tired of her circumstances, of being told to be grateful and to sit tight, she begin to crave autonomy and power in her own marriage.

While the tension between Afi and the rest of the characters made for some pretty absorbing scenes, I found myself growing increasingly frustrated by Afi. While it made sense for her to be naive, she just seemed to get used to her new life pretty fast (she treats staff poorly). Her devotion verging on obsession over Elikem didn't really convince me. One meeting and she's seemingly in love? Yet, for the majority of the novel he dons't treat her nicely, showing 'kindness' only once or twice towards the end of the narrative. That she believes all the gossip about his 'other' woman also struck me as unrealistic. Given that she's aware of how the Ganyos treat and speak of the people who 'wronged' them, surely she would at one point consider the possibility of those stories being less than truthful? Then it seemed that all of a sudden the idea of this 'other' woman was unbearable to her, when she knew from the very start that he was already in a relationship with someone else (making Afi the 'other' woman).
Her character development is kind of rushed. At the end she finally seems to get her act together, but by then I was no longer enjoying her narrative.
Part of me wishes that the Liberian woman had also been given a pov, making the novel feel less biased. I also wish that we could have seen more of Afi without the Ganyos (for example scenes while she's studying fashion would have been nice, or even her socialising with more people outside of her apartment).
Still, Medie does touch upon relevant issues, such the impact and pressure exerted by family and social expectations, and emphasising the double standards in marriage throughout the course of her narrative. Medie also depicts the sexist attitudes of those in Afi and the Ganyos' circle (a friend of husband says this: “man wasn’t made to be with one woman. You’re a lion, you should have an entire pride!” and I saw red).
Love, jealousy, betrayal, and angst add some spice to the story, making for some mostly entertaining reading material.