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One of the most common phrases I’ve seen used to describe Stay With Me is “stunning debut novel”. I hate to be cliche, but seriously, this is a stunning debut novel! Stay With Me follows the lives of Yejide and Akin, a young Nigerian couple who are suffering from fertility issues.  Four years into their marriage with no children, their lives take a stunning turn. They each separately attempt to address the problems in their marriage, with devastating results. This novel asks how much is too much when it comes to making sacrifices for the sake of family.

Stay With Me is told from the perspective of both Yejide as well as Akin. The story moves back and forth through meaningful junctures in their lives, highlighting the complex, often highly fraught choices they make. Set against the backdrop of Nigerian political unrest, this novel is an incredible look into the lives of two people trying to reconcile their preconceptions of what married life should be with what their marriage actually becomes.

I think part of the draw of this novel is the way it takes your hand as it dives headfirst into Nigerian culture and gives this forthright portrayal of lives that are so different from a typical American existence. Some of the twists and turns this novel takes are gritty, dirty, and unyielding; these character’s choices  are driven as much by cultural norms as by their own moral foundations. They have some very tough choices to make; you may or may not agree with them for a variety of reasons, but you can recognize that their cultural influences weigh heavily in their decision-making processes.

Stay With Me is a vivid, beautifully heartbreaking story that in the end still leaves room for hope. It is raw, real, and challenging. Full of love, tradition, family, hope, deceit, and loss, it will make your heart ache for the circumstances of Yejide and Akin’s lives. How do you define love? How far would go for those that you love? How far is too far? Can you come back from devastation? What might await you on the other side?

I listened to the audiobook version of this novel, rather than reading a print copy; the narrator is ‎ Adjoa Andoh, who also narrated Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie as well as The Power by Naomi Alderman. Andoh’s lyrical voice breathes life to Yejide’s story. Listening to the novel made the tragedy of Yejide and Akin’s tale so much more substantial and authentic for me; I didn’t have to imagine their Nigerian accents, Andoh presented them for me. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook version if you can!

I remember seeing this YA novel when our library first cataloged it last summer. The cover caught my eye, and I thought, “That book looks interesting!” I kept putting it off; you know how it goes… too many books, too little time. A few months ago, I decided I’d try borrowing it as an audiobook through the Overdrive app, but kept finding it not available. I finally bit the bullet and put it on hold, and was thrilled when it was my turn to listen!

The Gentlemen’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee is an amazingly fun, rollicking, romp of a tale! As the main character Henry “Monty” Montague says near the end, “We’ve had an adventure instead of a tour.” He’s not kidding. This book is like an exciting, crazy cross between a Diana Gabaldon Lord John novel, The Princess Bride, and Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows.

Henry Montague has always been a bit of a wild-child rogue, and he’s hoping the fun will continue on his grand tour of Europe before he’s expected back in England to take over his family’s estate. Monty’s thrilled to be traveling with his best friend and unrequited crush Percy; he less thrilled that his sister Felicity is along for part of the journey before she’s to be dropped off at school. Monty sets the plot in motion by a split second decision during a party at Versailles, and things go off the rails from there. Highwaymen, alchemists, stowaways, pirates, hidden family secrets, sinking islands…and more!

I have to say I’m really glad I chose to listen to the audiobook version of this novel! Narrated by Christian Coulson (who played Tom Riddle in the movie of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) it was named one of the top ten audiboooks of 2017 by the American Library Association. It was a finalist for the 2017 Audible Best Audiobook of the Year, and was Audiofile Magazine’s Best Audiobook of 2017. Coulson’s dashing British accent portrays perfectly Monty’s somewhat flippant, sometimes haughty, always loveable character. If you can get the audiobook I highly recommend it!

If after you read The Gentlemen’s Guide to Vice and Virtue you find yourself hoping for more, never fear! Mackenzi Lee has written a second novel due out this October all about Felicity Montague! The Ladies’ Guide to Petticoats and Piracy is set to be released on October 2. You can bet I’ll be listening to that one as well! I hope Monty and Percy make an appearance!