Stay With Me
Ayobami Adebayo
“If the burden is too much and stays too long, even love bends, cracks, comes close to breaking”
Available as Paperback, Hardback, eBook, Downloadable audio
Shortlisted for the 2017 Baileys Prize, this Nigerian debut is the heartbreaking tale of what wanting a child can do to a person, a marriage and a family
WINNER OF THE 9MOBILE PRIZE FOR LITERATURE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2017 BAILEYS WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2018 WELLCOME BOOK PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2018 INTERNATIONAL DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE
Yejide is hoping for a miracle, for a child. It is all her husband wants, all her mother-in-law wants, and she has tried everything. But when her relatives insist upon a new wife, it is too much for Yejide to bear.
Unravelling against the social and political turbulence of 1980s Nigeria, Stay With Me is a story of the fragility of married love, the undoing of family, the power of grief, and the all-consuming bonds of motherhood. It is a tale about the desperate attempts we make to save ourselves, and those we love, from heartbreak.
“Scorching, gripping, ultimately lovely”
Margaret Atwood
See more reviews
“A must read”
Afua Hirsch
“This terrific first novel (shortlisted for the Baileys women’s prize for fiction) deals with the daily stresses of living with the political upheavals of the time but the real drama is happening in Yejide’s womb. Adebayo unfolds the many layers of truth with insight and skill”
the Times
“A thoroughly contemporary style that is all her own … clever and funny … despite the intense sadness of her subject matter, she has produced a bright, big-hearted demonstration of female spirit, as well as the damage done by the boundlessness of male pride”
guardian
“Has a remarkable emotional resonance and depth of field [ … Adebayo] is an exceptional storyteller. She writes not just with extraordinary grace but with genuine wisdom about love and loss and the possibility of redemption. She has written a powerfully magnetic and heartbreaking book”
new York Times
Ayobami Adebayo
Ayòbámi Adébàyò was born in Lagos, Nigeria. Her debut novel, Stay With Me, won the 9mobile Prize for Literature, was shortlisted for the Baileys Prize for Women’s Fiction, the Wellcome Book Prize and the Kwani? Manuscript Prize. It has been translated into twenty languages and the French translation was awarded the Prix Les Afriques. Longlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize and the International Dublin Literary Award, Stay With Me was a New York Times, Guardian, Chicago Tribune and NPR Best Book of the Year. Ayòbámi Adébàyò splits her time between Norwich and Lagos.
ayobamiadebayo.com | @ayobamiadebayo
A rundown of the Baileys Prize shortlist from Simon Savidge of Savidge Reads. “My number one choice has to be Stay With Me. I absolutely adore this book from start to finish, I think it’s incredible.”
Jen Campbell reviews this year’s Baileys shortlist. “The book I enjoyed the most, and would love to see win is Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo.”
“She has a thoroughly contemporary style that is all her own. Her clever and funny take on domestic life and Nigerian society is a welcome addition to her country’s burgeoning literary scene. Despite the intense sadness of her subject matter, she has produced a bright, big-hearted demonstration of female spirit”
Diana Evans
The Guardian
Ayobami Adebayo in conversation at Foyles
Stay With Me is the heart-rending, gripping (and Baileys-shortlisted) debut novel by Ayobami Adebayo. Listen to this extract from the audiobook, read by Adjoa Andoh.
