Stay with Me

‘There are things even love can’t do …If the burden is too much and stays too long, even love bends, cracks, comes close to breaking and sometimes does break. But even when it’s in a thousand pieces around your feet, that doesn’t mean it’s no longer love …’ Yejide is hoping for a miracle, for a child. It is all her husband wants, all her mother-in-law wants, and she has tried everything – arduous pilgrimages, medical consultations, dances with prophets, appeals to God. But when her in-laws insist upon a new wife, it is too much for Yejide to bear. It will lead to jealousy, betrayal and despair. Unravelling against the social and political turbulence of 80s Nigeria, Stay With Me sings with the voices, colours, joys and fears of its surroundings. Ayobami Adebayo weaves a devastating story of the fragility of married love, the undoing of family, the wretchedness of grief, and the all-consuming bonds of motherhood. It is a tale about our desperate attempts to save ourselves and those we love from heartbreak.

Reviews of Stay with Me

Ayobami Adebayo is an extremely talented and sensitive writer … Fantastic — Uzodinma Iweala, author of Beasts of No Nation Colourful, vibrant, energetic – a stunning tale of what happens when societal expectations collide with reality — Tendai Huchu, author of The Hairdresser of Harare A compulsive read … Just brilliant. Adebayo is an astounding storyteller – an exciting addition to the emerging voices in African writing — Jennifer Makumbi, author of Kintu and winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Competition Just when I thought I knew where the story was going, suddenly I was left wondering all over again. I read it late into the night – Ayobami Adebayo definitely owes me several hours of sleep! — Chibundu Onuzo, author of The Spider King's Daughter