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Freshwater / Akwaeke Emezi.
Van Pelt Library PR9387.9.E42 F74 2018b
Available
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Emezi, Akwaeke, author.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Women--Nigeria--Fiction.
- Women.
- Identity (Psychology)--Fiction.
- Identity (Psychology).
- Dissociative disorders--Fiction.
- Dissociative disorders.
- Mental illness.
- Mental Disorders.
- mental disorders.
- Nigeria.
- Medical Subjects:
- Mental Disorders.
- Genre:
- Fiction.
- Fictional autobiographies.
- Autobiographical fiction.
- Physical Description:
- 240 pages ; 21 cm
- Edition:
- First Grove Atlantic paperback edition.
- Place of Publication:
- New York : Grove Press, 2018.
- Summary:
- Freshwater explores the surreal experience of having a fractured self. It centers around a young Nigerian woman, Ada, who develops separate selves within her as a result of being born "with one foot on the other side." Unsettling, heartwrenching, dark, and powerful, Freshwater is a sharp evocation of a rare way of experiencing the world, one that illuminates how we all construct our identities. Ada begins her life in the south of Nigeria as a troubled baby and a source of deep concern to her family. Her parents, Saul and Saachi, successfully prayed her into existence, but as she grows into a volatile and splintered child, it becomes clear that something went terribly awry. When Ada comes of age and moves to America for college, the group of selves within her grows in power and agency. A traumatic assault leads to a crystallization of her alternate selves: Asụghara and Saint Vincent. As Ada fades into the background of her own mind and these selves, now protective, now hedonistic, move into control, Ada's life spirals in a dark and dangerous direction. Narrated from the perspective of the various selves within Ada, and based in the author's realities, Freshwater explores the metaphysics of identity and mental health, plunging the reader into the mystery of being and self. Freshwater dazzles with ferocious energy and serpentine grace, heralding the arrival of a fierce new literary voice.
- Notes:
- Includes the essay by the author, Writing into the Unknown, which first appeared on BuzzFeed READER on February 7, 2018 (pages 233-240).
- National Book Foundation, 5 Under 35 Author Honoree
- ISBN:
- 9780802128997
- 0802128998
- OCLC:
- 1028002059
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