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“Beautiful, gripping, and tender . . . a powerful and unforgettable meditation on love, belonging, and motherhood.”—Emilia Hart, author of Weyward
On a spring afternoon in London, Sam races up the stairs of his flat two at a time. There’s £1,300 missing from the bank account he shares with his wife, Efe, and his calls are going straight to voicemail. When he finally reaches someone, he learns that Efe is over four thousand miles away, as their toddler looks around and asks, “Where’s Mummy?”
When Efe and Sam met as teens headed for university, it seemed that everyone knew they were meant to be. Efe, newly arrived in the UK from Ghana and sinking under the weight of her parents’ expectations, found comfort in the focused and idealistic Sam. He was stable, working toward a law career, and had an unwavering vision for their future—a vision Efe, now a decade later, finds insufferable. From the outside, they’re the picture-perfect couple everyone imagined, but there are cracks in the frame.
Faced with a life-altering decision, Efe and Sam find themselves on opposing sides, forced to confront just how radically different they want their lives to be. Then one day, Efe disappears. Rootless is a heartrending story about sacrifice, family, and ambition, providing an intimate look at what happens after a marriage collapses—and if it can still be saved.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
March 7, 2023 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593668986
- File size: 381340 KB
- Duration: 13:14:27
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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January 30, 2023
Appiah debuts with an expansive and rich saga of a British Ghanaian woman balancing familial expectations with her own desires. In 2016 London, Sam Mensah is frantically searching for Efe Owusu-Mensah, his disappeared wife. With a parallel narrative, Appiah unspools Efe’s story, beginning 19 years earlier when her parents sent her and her younger sister, Serwaa, from Accra, Ghana, to live with their aunt in London to finish secondary school. Culture shock overwhelms Efe, but Serwaa easily assimilates. Soon, though, Efe finds her footing with some help from her popular cousin, who introduces her to Sam. After pursuing a degree in economics, Efe fails out of college, much to her parents’ chagrin. Depressed and isolated, she eventually decides to study art history before marrying Sam and reluctantly starting a family. Postpartum depression follows the birth of their daughter, but with time and therapy Efe’s spirits improve. Still, she feels drawn to Ghana, where it turns out she’s traveled to without telling Sam. Though the narrative runs a little longer than necessary, Appiah is adept at showing the ways Efe copes with the pain of abandonment and depression. This cosmopolitan work will speak to readers. Agent: Jenny Bent, Bent Agency. (Mar.)Correction: An earlier version of this review incorrectly stated the Efe character had an older sister, and that she moved to London to finish primary school.
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