But it’s also a story of survival and strength and of coming to terms with what it means to survive. It demands to be read as reality not as fable or mythology served to juxtapose. It is not an easy experience it’s a story of trauma and violence and heartbreak. Akwaeke Emezi (Courtesy Elizabeth Wirija) In this light, the radical nature of Freshwater is clear. Freshwater embeds you deep into Ada’s mind, demanding that you feel what this young woman feels, that you see the world the way she does. But then something vivid and clear happens - Asughara turns the tables on another domineering man with her unbridled sexuality, say - and Emezi’s prose calls the reader to attention. A 2018 National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree, Emezi was born in Umuahia and raised in Aba, Nigeria. Their most recent adult novel THE DEATH OF VIVEK OJI (Riverhead Books) was an Instant New York Times Bestseller, an Indie Bestseller, and an Indie Next selection. In those parts of the book, the reader is left floating in a sea of language which sounds pretty, but which doesn’t seem to be actively describing anything. Akwaeke Emezi is an artist and writer based in liminal spaces.

Some scenes lack a sense of place or a narrative thrust. Freshwater at times feels a little too unmoored from reality. 1987) is a multidisciplinary artist and writer based in liminal spaces. You have to peel back the layers to get to what Emezi has laid underneath, to find the gems, to find the. It is a novel born from trauma and emotional paroxysms, a read that erupts with them throughout. What is reading, but inviting another voice to take up residence in your head? Emezi’s voice is hypnotic and powerful and imaginative, leaving the reader unsure of what in the story is real and what is not. Akwaeke Emezi’s Freshwater is a novel of layers that do not always nicely overlap in fact, the pieces often seem to not fit together at all. These voices in Freshwater - the chorus of personalities - should feel familiar to anyone who spends a lot of time lost in books.

Freshwater akwaeke emezi