So they keep it a secret from their friends and families-in fact, Harriet barely even admits it to herself, focusing instead on her grueling hours as a surgical resident.

They’ve been part of the same boisterous friend group since college, and they know that their breakup will devastate the others and make things more than a little awkward. Wyn Connor and Harriet Kilpatrick were the perfect couple-until Wyn dumped Harriet for reasons she still doesn’t fully understand. And it’s too bad that the most engaging character here-her best friend, Joy-gets relegated to the role of one-woman chorus, talking sense that Feyi absolutely does not want to hear.Ī narrative built from cliché and pure fantasy.Įxes pretend they’re still together for the sake of their friends on their annual summer vacation.

She achieves a level of success that means she’s either singularly gifted or uniquely lucky. Feyi’s career as an artist also seems detached from reality. Feyi insists that no one who hasn’t lost a partner can understand her, but the way she and Alim talk about themselves as a whole world with two people in it feels more like folie à deux than real love. The slow burn Emezi generates as Feyi and Alim fight their shared desire is well crafted, but the ease with which Alim is willing to destroy his relationship with his son-and his daughter-for Feyi is chilling. What transpires from this point is…complicated. This was foreign….” She feels a special connection with Alim when she learns that he’s known tragedy, too. It had beckoned her over like bait, calling her until she built a mirror, reflecting it back to them. “When she’d met both Milan and Nasir, she’d been drawn to them because the want had started in their eyes. The attraction she feels for the older man is instantaneous-and different. She’s shocked to discover that Nasir’s father is celebrity chef Alim Blake. When she shows him her artwork, he gets her a place in a group show and an invitation to his father’s luxurious home on a tropical island. Soon, she embarks on a slightly more demanding relationship. This is the first time she’s had sex in five years-since her husband died in a car accident-and Milan is attractive, eager, and convenient. In the opening scene of this novel, Feyi Adekola is in a bathroom at a house party having sex with a man she’s just met. A scorching tale of love after loss from the author of The Death of Vivek Oji (2020).

Akwaeke emezi bitter