Ghana Must Go
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Press
Release Date: 2013
Genre: Fiction
Setting: Ghana
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Synopsis
Meet the Sais, a Nigerian-Ghanaian family living in the United States. A Family prospering until the day father and surgeon, Kweku Sai is the victim of a grave injustice. Ashamed, he abandons his beautiful wife, Fola and their little boys and girls, causing the family to fracture and spiral out into the world - New York, London, West Africa, New England - on uncertain, troubled journeys until many years later, tragedy unites them. Now this broken family has a chance to heal - but can the Sais take it?
My Thoughts.....
I’ve always wonder why and how easy it is for some men to up and leave their families, without a care in the world nor a thought about the long term effects of the abandonment on the family and especially the children. That is the life of Kweku Sai, a celebrated successful surgeon, born in Ghana and educated in the US where he starts a family with his college sweetheart Folousade Sai (Fola).
When Kweku loses his job, he becomes disillusioned and decides to abandon his family and return to Ghana to start over leaving his wife Fola to care for their 4 children; Olu, Taiwo and Kehinde (twins) and the baby, Sadie. Fola, who had shelved her ambitions of becoming a lawyer to take care of the family and support her husband, now, struggles to bring up the children by herself. She has to make tough decisions which end up having long term ramifications on the family dynamics and tragic consequences for the twins, Taiwo and Kehinde.
“She is a woman, first; unmarried, worse; a Nigerian, worst; and fair-skinned. As suspicious persons go in Ghana, she might as well be a known terrorist.”
Years later, Kweku dies, the entire family, now all estranged and living in different parts of the world have to come ‘home’ to Ghana to bury their father. A family, once very close and now torn apart by years of miscommunication, misunderstandings, secrets, misfortunes and tragedy are forced to find their way back, to each other and to love.
"He sounded like a teenager, a recently dumped girlfriend still desperate to be back in her tormentor’s arms.”
This was indeed a tough read but an engrossing read. Beautiful writing and a great storyline.
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