Freshwater
Author: Akwaeke Emezi
Published by: Faber & Faber
Pages: 230
Format: Hardback
My Rating ★★★★
I have lived many lives inside this body.
I lived many lives before they put me in this body.
I will live many lives when they take me out of this body.
Ada was born with one foot on the other side. Having prayed her into existence, her parents Saul and Saachi struggle to deal with the volatile and contradictory spirits peopling their troubled girl.
When Ada comes of age and heads to college, the entities within her grow in power and agency. An assault leads to crystallization of her selves: Asughara and Saint Vincent. As Ada fades into the background of her own mind and these selves – now protective, now hedonistic – seize control of her, Ada’s life spirals in a dark and dangerous direction.
Narrated from the perspectives of the various selves within Ada, and based in the author’s realities, Freshwater explores the metaphysics of identity and being. Feeling explodes through the language of this scalding novel, heralding the arrival of a fierce new literary voice.
My thoughts:
Freshwater tells the story of Ada, a complicated young Nigerian woman with a multiple personalities, due to the gods who have mistakenly entered and taken ahold of her body and mind. It is an extremely powerful novel portraying the darkest thoughts within us. It is a novel that portrays the psychological effects of such darkness and emotional violence.
The scattered storyline follows Ada as she endures a dysfunctional upbringing in Nigeria. She then moves away to study in America, and quickly comes into close contact with a series of violent men. The story is told from the perspective of a host of spirits called ‘ogbanje’, who occupy the protagonist’s body and apply forceful control over her actions.
An ‘ogbanje’ is “a spirit that’s born into a human body, a kind of malevolent trickster, whose goal is to torment the human mother by dying unexpectedly only to return in the next child and do it all over again.”
Freshwater follows Ada as she comes of age while contending with these multiple personalities and prolonged trauma. The narrative leaps back and forth in time with new personalities and overlapping stories being told from different perspectives. I must admit it took me a little while to initially grasp the feel of this book, and to really understand what was going on, but I actually really loved the unusual writing style and nonlinear plot structure. Once things clicked, I was totally hooked.
The novel is undeniably absorbing, and I soon found myself unable to put it down. It contains so much symbolism and emotion, allowing readers to interpret it in a very personal way, as we delve into Ada’s very talented but troubled mind. I loved how each of the spirits had their own unique personalities, with things getting extremely dark as they began to develop their agendas in manipulating almost every aspect of Ada’s life. It was fascinating to delve into her mind and think about all those tiny little voices we all have inside our heads, guiding us through life and helping us to make key decisions along the way.
The author takes many risks with the storytelling, and pulls you in every step of the way. The ending is beautiful, and I honestly found this to be an extremely thoughtful and moving read from beginning to end.
Freshwater is an incredibly imaginative dark fairytale quite unlike anything I have ever read. It is spiritual, wise, highly thought provoking and completely unique. A remarkable work of fiction from Akwaeke Emezi.
Overall reaction:
Published by: Faber & Faber
Pages: 230
Format: Hardback
My Rating ★★★★
I have lived many lives inside this body.
I lived many lives before they put me in this body.
I will live many lives when they take me out of this body.
Ada was born with one foot on the other side. Having prayed her into existence, her parents Saul and Saachi struggle to deal with the volatile and contradictory spirits peopling their troubled girl.
When Ada comes of age and heads to college, the entities within her grow in power and agency. An assault leads to crystallization of her selves: Asughara and Saint Vincent. As Ada fades into the background of her own mind and these selves – now protective, now hedonistic – seize control of her, Ada’s life spirals in a dark and dangerous direction.
Narrated from the perspectives of the various selves within Ada, and based in the author’s realities, Freshwater explores the metaphysics of identity and being. Feeling explodes through the language of this scalding novel, heralding the arrival of a fierce new literary voice.
My thoughts:
Freshwater tells the story of Ada, a complicated young Nigerian woman with a multiple personalities, due to the gods who have mistakenly entered and taken ahold of her body and mind. It is an extremely powerful novel portraying the darkest thoughts within us. It is a novel that portrays the psychological effects of such darkness and emotional violence.
The scattered storyline follows Ada as she endures a dysfunctional upbringing in Nigeria. She then moves away to study in America, and quickly comes into close contact with a series of violent men. The story is told from the perspective of a host of spirits called ‘ogbanje’, who occupy the protagonist’s body and apply forceful control over her actions.
An ‘ogbanje’ is “a spirit that’s born into a human body, a kind of malevolent trickster, whose goal is to torment the human mother by dying unexpectedly only to return in the next child and do it all over again.”
Freshwater follows Ada as she comes of age while contending with these multiple personalities and prolonged trauma. The narrative leaps back and forth in time with new personalities and overlapping stories being told from different perspectives. I must admit it took me a little while to initially grasp the feel of this book, and to really understand what was going on, but I actually really loved the unusual writing style and nonlinear plot structure. Once things clicked, I was totally hooked.
The novel is undeniably absorbing, and I soon found myself unable to put it down. It contains so much symbolism and emotion, allowing readers to interpret it in a very personal way, as we delve into Ada’s very talented but troubled mind. I loved how each of the spirits had their own unique personalities, with things getting extremely dark as they began to develop their agendas in manipulating almost every aspect of Ada’s life. It was fascinating to delve into her mind and think about all those tiny little voices we all have inside our heads, guiding us through life and helping us to make key decisions along the way.
The author takes many risks with the storytelling, and pulls you in every step of the way. The ending is beautiful, and I honestly found this to be an extremely thoughtful and moving read from beginning to end.
Freshwater is an incredibly imaginative dark fairytale quite unlike anything I have ever read. It is spiritual, wise, highly thought provoking and completely unique. A remarkable work of fiction from Akwaeke Emezi.
Overall reaction: