This book felt very realistic. We follow our central character, Stella from childhood into her thirties and we learn how her past experiences form the person she will become. I found the insight into Ghanaian culture really fascinating and it certainly gave me food for thought. I very much enjoyed this book and will look out for future works by this author. Thank you to net galley and the publishers for my copy of this book.

One for sorrow...opens with Stella as a young child in Brixton, marvelling at how exuberant and charming her father is as he MCs yet another event for their Ghanaian-British community. We get a picture of a man who is the life and soul of these parties but this is swiftly shattered when they leave the event as we realise Stella, while amazed by his public persona, is petrified by his private one.⁣
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"𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘺, 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥. 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢’𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥… 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘺."⁣
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The tale follows Stella as she grows up in this broken home, desperately trying to find a place for herself in a world that seems to be against her. Her mother and friends are her saving grace, and we experience the everyday highs but also the constant lows with her. We root for her as a teenager, an adult, but hurt a little inside too when we recognise the patterns that arise from the intergenerational trauma. Will she ever find that joy she so desperately seeks?⁣
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This novel evocatively weaves through the eras of Stella's life, up to modern day, giving us glimpses of what could and should be. ⁣
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Thanks to @netgalley and publishers @oneworldpublications for the ARC of this title

What a fantastic read this was. So personal and so engaging one could not help but have huge empathy with the central character, Stella. From her childhood to her early thirties, we the reader are with her all the way as she lives her life and questions her experiences and how they continue to impact her. A recommended,engrossing read.

I really enjoyed this book! Being from a Ghanaian background myself i was able to relate to the characters alot, it took as on a journey from characters transitioning from teenage to adulthood.
I really loved how the author describes the mannerisms of Ghanaians such as phrases, there was a part where the author talked about Ghanaian radio station playing music, this was very common within the Ghanaian community in the 90s and early 2000 as the radio was where Ghanaians in the diaspora use to listen to lots of music and find out announcements about what is happening in Ghana. If you are interested in finding out about Ghanaian culture abroad then this is for you!

I really enjoyed the characters as they grew from teenagers and finally began to mature. They were a little too immature for my liking as I do not remember being that immature at that age.
Stella is a child that lives in London.

I felt the age she was given could have easily reflected a 10 year old instead. It was difficult to get through because of this.
It was interesting to see though that she progressed into a young woman eventually though.

I thought that this book was extremely well written. You really felt that you were there along with the characters as the story played out. The storytelling for this book was just really amazing. It covers many important topics and I think that it will make people question some preconceptions. It's a really well written book with great characters.

I’d describe this book as realistic fiction. The author has done an amazing job at creating imaginary characters and situations that depict the world and society. The characters focus on themes of growing, self-discovery and confronting personal and social problems. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

Marie-Claire Amuah's debut novel, One for Sorrow, Two for Joy introduces us to Stella, a child of Ghanaian heritage who lives in London. The novel opens with Stella, still at school, looking towards her future. The language of this early section reflects the teenage mind extremely well - and as the years pass and Stella matures - so does Amuah's prose.

Stella's father is violent, and the shadow of his intimidation casts a long shadow over the life of this young woman, who moves off to university, and into a profession in the law.

This is a novel of incidents that make up the whole of a life - and your mileage with this novel will depend on how much you connect and empathise with Stella. That I read this in one sitting tells you how I felt. This is a heart-felt, funny and tender debut, and does mark Amuah out as a voice to watch.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC.