Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo

Those of you who follow my blog, will know this is the second time I’ve snuck in a review of a book that I wasn’t intending to read next. You know how it is, you pick up a book just in passing and then get hooked. So here I am reviewing Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo instead of the planned Stronger than Skin by Stephen May which I will review in the next few days – I’ve started it and it’s a compelling read, sorry if you were hoping I’d review it sooner.

Stay With Me is a powerful book, transporting the reader to Nigeria. The narrative swaps between Yejide and her husband Akin, covering a time period from the early 1980s to 2008.  

It’s hard to write about the novel without spoiling the plot and Adebayo’s handling of time and information cleverly allow the story to unfold, teasing the reader with pieces of information about Yejide’s marriage and children in order to entice us further into the complexities of her relationship with Akin and their desire for progeny. Continue reading Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo

The Unseeing by Anna Mazzola

Based on a real murder that took place in 1836, The Unseeing is a cleverly crafted novel that explores and exploits the filters of human consciousness, its needs and its desires. Do any of us see clearly?

Sarah Gale has been convicted of aiding and abetting her lover, James Greenacre, in the murder of Hannah Brown whose body Greenacre dismembered and hid in different spots across London – the famous Edgeware Road Murder. For this, Sarah Gale will hang.

When various prominent figures petition for Sarah’s life, among them Mrs Elizabeth Fry, a young barrister, Edmund Fleetwood, is commissioned to investigate the evidence presented at the trial and to make a recommendation as to whether or not Sarah Gale should be spared the noose. Much to Edmund’s surprise, it was his father that suggested him for the commission. Continue reading The Unseeing by Anna Mazzola