You know that meme that shows someone looking up the cast of a show they really enjoyed? That was me halfway through this novel. Appiah wrote a character that I identified with so much that I had to stop reading and look her up. Because, have we met? LOL!
Rootless is my first read of the year, and it set the bar high.
Synopsis
Sam comes home to find his wife, Efe, is gone. She’s fled London and returned to Ghana, leaving him to care for their daughter Olivia. At first, I was like wow. She left her baby? But then the story jumps back 19 years to when they first meet as teens, and as their story plays out, I found myself rooting for Efe.
Bookish Thoughts
Without giving too much away, something happened to Sam when he was 12 that made what Efe did even more messed up, but Efe suffered her own trauma as a child and she struggles with her mental health. Sam’s response to trauma is to be organized and diligent, whereas Efe is a ball of anxiety, always second-guessing herself. Over the years, the question of having a child comes up. He desperately wants a family, but she does not. They come off as this perfect couple, but when she gets pregnant, the facade starts to crumble, and I realize how much I can relate to Efe. She is under a lot of pressure to become who she is not so she could be someone society expects her to be. She did not want to be a mother. She wasn’t ready to put down roots just yet, so she ran.
Sam has his own family issues to grapple with, but the feminist in me would not take her foot off his neck, especially after he does something unthinkable to make himself feel better. It is not the duty of women to make men whole after someone or something else broke them. That’s a hill I will die on.
I enjoyed Appiah’s writing. The way she describes Ghana (the heat, the dust, the traffic) places the reader right there with the characters. But the suspense around the timeline is what kept me up past 1am. Every chapter before the event starts with a countdown. It goes from years, then months, then days, then hours before something happens and when it does all I could say was “Damn!”
Spoilers: Please stop scrolling if you plan on reading this book
I want to start by saying that Sam is not the villain here, even after he sleeps with Efe’s cousin Abbey. REALLY? YOU COULDN’T FIND SOLACE IN A RANDOM WOMAN? Petty, but I still empathized with him, because his mother walked out, leaving his father, Ken, to care for Sam and Phoebe. I called Efe all types of names for knowing how that affected Sam and putting him through abandonment again.
But,honestly, both to blame for even agreeing to get married knowing they feel differently on the subject of having children. She marries him believing he wouldn’t try to change her mind, but he manages to talk her into keeping the first baby, saying he would support her by sharing responsibilities. That support never comes, despite him knowing Efe has a history of self-harm and is thus predisposed to post partum depression. He sees she is a wreck and has her caring for Liv 90% of the time, and on top of that, tasks her with taking care of Ken when he has a stroke.
When she gets pregnant a second time, he comes with the same promises. Efe is so traumatized by what she went through with that first pregnancy and first year of caring for Liv pretty much on her own, that she does not believe him. Honestly, I wouldn’t have either. So, I didn’t fault her for aborting that baby. She was on the brink of madness with Liv. Even though four years had passed before the second pregnancy, all she experienced is still fresh on her mind. She is not willing to go through that struggle again.
Maame, Efe’s mother, is something else. She cuts Efe off when she learns of the abortion. She does not care about what her daughter went through with Liv. All she cares about is appearances and how bad it looks to the elders that Efe left Sam and Liv and refuses to return to London until she finds herself. Sam’s mother Rebecca is coming around after more than two decades of chasing her dreams. Again, as with Efe, I’m not mad at that. Because here’s the thing, men run out on their families all the time. Why is it always the mother who is expected to stay and hold it down? Moms need breaks, too.
And this is why I think society is the main villain here. It places too many expectations on women. Serwaa, Efe’s little sister, has plans to go to university but gets married and has three babies. Not that she’s complaining. Unlike Efe, she takes motherhood in stride. It comes naturally to her. Plus, she is in Ghana and has the support of their parents. My point is, she had to abandon her dreams despite her intention to continue her studies after having baby number one.
Sam spends most of his time at the office knowing Efe needs his help with Liv and would love to return to her job at the gallery. And Sam doesnt even like his job. His passion is photography. Efe, despite finally finding work she is passionate about, has to put her career on hold. After returning to work and finding her footing again, she is expected to repeat that cycle by having another child. That’s a sacrifice Efe is not willing to make again.
When Efe dies in that accident in Ghana after she and Sam agree to work it out, I was left in shambles. It was the middle of the night, and I let out a silent scream so as not to wake up the house. Well played, Krystle Zara Appiah. Well played.
As you can probably tell, this book had me in my feelings. Have you read it yet? What are your thoughts?
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