His Only Wife

Peace Adzo Medie’s novel His Only Wife (2020) is set in Ghana and traces the protagonist Afi Tekple’s life in the wake of her arranged marriage to Elikem “Eli” Ganyo. Afi accepts the marital arrangement made by Eli’s mother Aunty Faustina Ganyo to honor her mother and repay her family’s debts to Aunty. Afi understands the cultural expectations of her social station and gender. Her marriage grants her access to a more comfortable, secure, and exciting life in the urban metropolis of Accra. However, leaving her home in Ho and starting her life with Eli quickly disappoints Afi’s expectations. Although she does eventually fall in love with Eli, her husband’s ongoing relationship with a Liberian woman named Muna compromises Afi’s needs and wants. She wants to be with Eli, but she also wants agency within her marriage and home. Her work to claim autonomy in her new life inspires the novel’s explorations of the Intersection of Tradition and Personal Desire, the Dynamics of Arranged Marriage, and the Empowerment of Women.

This guide refers to the 2021 Algonquin Books paperback edition of the novel.

Plot Summary

His Only Wife is set in contemporary Ghana. The protagonist and first-person narrator Afi Tekple has lived with her mother, Olivia, and their benefactor, Aunty Faustina Ganyo, in Ho ever since her father’s death 10 years prior. Afi agrees to marry Aunty’s elusive son Elikem to repay her family’s debts and to make her mother proud. Eli does not attend the wedding. He is away in Hong Kong on business and marries Afi in absentia. Afi wishes he were there but is excited to officially meet him when she moves to Accra to start their life together.

Eli’s brother Richard shepherds Afi to one of Eli’s properties in the city. The Accra flat, called King’s Court, is sprawling and lavish. However, Afi soon grows restless despite its many luxuries. Eli still has not made an appearance. His family has told Afi about Eli’s other relationship with an enigmatic and allegedly wicked Liberian woman. They have tasked Afi with drawing Eli away from the woman, but she does not know how to fulfill this duty if Eli is never at home.

Afi tells Eli her plans to attend sewing school and start her own design business when the couple starts to spend time together. Eli supports her plans and has his sister Yaya help her enroll in Sarah L Creations, a local sewing school run by a woman named Sarah. Afi is inspired by Sarah’s story and quickly settles into her new creative pursuits.

Meanwhile, Eli starts to spend more time with Afi at the Accra flat. Afi and Eli fall in love over their first four weeks together. Then one day, Richard’s girlfriend and Afi’s new friend Evelyn tells Afi that Eli is still seeing the Liberian woman, Muna. He plans to leave King’s Court when Muna returns from her trip with her and Eli’s daughter, Ivy. Afi is furious when Eli confirms Evelyn’s prediction and tells her that she will not see him as regularly in the future.

Afi returns to Ho unannounced. Aunty and Olivia demand that she go back to her husband in Accra. Afi defies them, insisting that she will not leave until Eli comes to get her and brings her back to his primary home. Eli finally obliges when Aunty pressures him to.

Afi is glad to be in Eli’s house, but Eli starts to withdraw from her thereafter. When she discovers that she is pregnant with Eli’s son, she hopes that Eli will change his ways and come back to her. Eli does not attend to Afi’s needs until Afi falls on the stairs and hits her stomach during an argument one night.

Afi finishes sewing school on the same day that she goes into labor with her son, Selorm. Just a few weeks later, Afi returns to work and eventually opens her own boutique. She devotes her energy to building the business throughout the first year of Selorm’s life.

Then one day, Afi runs a fashion shoot near a gated beachside community. When her photographer hits a local child, Afi seeks out the mother and child to apologize. She is shocked when she knocks on the woman’s door and discovers Muna, Eli, and Ivy inside.

Afi tells Eli she wants a divorce. She hopes that he will choose her over Muna, but Eli is hesitant. Therefore, Afi finalizes their separation. Her friends and family question her decision, but Afi is confident that she can support herself and her son with her business. She maintains the boutique and raises Selorm alone. She lets Eli see Selorm but dismisses herself during his visits. She does not regret her decision to leave him, but still loves Eli and wishes their marriage could have turned out differently.