Kweku Sai is dead. A renowned surgeon and
failed husband, he succumbs suddenly at dawn outside his home in
suburban Accra. The news of Kweku’s death sends a ripple around the
world, bringing together the family he abandoned years before. Ghana Must Go
is their story. Electric, exhilarating, beautifully crafted, it is a testament to the transformative power of unconditional love,
from a debut novelist of extraordinary talent.
Moving with great elegance through time and place, Ghana Must Go charts the Sais’ circuitous journey to one another. In the wake of Kweku’s death, his children gather in Ghana at their enigmatic mother’s new home. The eldest son and his wife; the mysterious, beautiful twins; the baby sister, now a young woman: each carries secrets of his own. What is revealed in their coming together is the story of how they came apart: the hearts broken, the lies told, the crimes committed in the name of love. Splintered, alone, each navigates his pain, believing that what has been lost can never be recovered—until, in Ghana, a new way forward, a new family, begins to emerge.
This book is at once a portrait of a modern family, and an exploration of the importance of where we come from to who we are. In a sweeping narrative that takes us from Accra to Lagos to London to New York, Ghana Must Go teaches that the truths we speak can heal the wounds we hide.
April says:
The novel opens with Kweku wandering into his garden on the morning he dies. And deftly weaving years of his life together, Selasi tells the story of the three times his heart broke, each break never quite healing and leading to his death. And this beautiful section is only the first third of the book.
Retracing the same steps from each family member's eyes, the story of Kweku's family is never dull and while the reader is taken to the same river multiple times, it is never the same water. Each child as well as Kweku's first wife is given a clean slate to tell their path to Kweku's funeral in Ghana. And nothing is held back when the children are able to give their story to the reader, much as any family tells the whole truth to their diary and keeps telling their family that they are "okay".
The final third of the novel brings a sort of unfinished close to the family. And while the road might not be leveled out, the reader does feel better about leaving the family as they are now.
I love this book. Not just for the familial drama, but for the poetic voice and lines and composition of narrative. Think of it like watching a master craftswoman weave a beautiful yet meticulous blanket."
A
book club for the true collector, the ardent bibliophile, and all
lovers of the printed word. Members of the Tattered Cover Autographed
Book Club receive one signed first edition chosen by our special events
staff each month. Selections represent both fiction and nonfiction.
Current members have already received collectible volumes carrying the signatures of such award-winning authors as Margaret Atwood, Larry McMurtry, Erica Jong, James Lee Burke, Carol Shields, Carl Hiaasen, Peter Matthiessen, Russell Banks, Charles Johnson, Kaye Gibbons, Nick Hornby, Rick Bass, Pam Houston, Ian McEwan, Oscar Hijuelos, Christopher Buckley, Annie Proulx, Roddy Doyle, Isabel Allende, Kent Haruf, Tom McGuane, Ed McBain, Ian Frazier, Jane Smiley, Thomas Lynch, E.O Wilson, and James Welch.
You may enroll at any time or set up a gift membership for someone of your choice. Selections average $25.00 each, and if you have your book shipped you will be charged $8.00 shipping and handling. Automatic billing will be arranged by credit card, and monthly selections may be mailed out automatically or held at our reserve desk in Colfax Avenue, Historic LoDo, or Highlands Ranch based on your preference.
For more information, please contact us at: a.b.c@tatteredcover.com
You can meet the author on Monday, March 18, 2013!!!
Just come to our Colfax Avenue store at 7:30 pm, where Taiye Selasi will be reading from, discussing and signing her debut novel.
Moving with great elegance through time and place, Ghana Must Go charts the Sais’ circuitous journey to one another. In the wake of Kweku’s death, his children gather in Ghana at their enigmatic mother’s new home. The eldest son and his wife; the mysterious, beautiful twins; the baby sister, now a young woman: each carries secrets of his own. What is revealed in their coming together is the story of how they came apart: the hearts broken, the lies told, the crimes committed in the name of love. Splintered, alone, each navigates his pain, believing that what has been lost can never be recovered—until, in Ghana, a new way forward, a new family, begins to emerge.
This book is at once a portrait of a modern family, and an exploration of the importance of where we come from to who we are. In a sweeping narrative that takes us from Accra to Lagos to London to New York, Ghana Must Go teaches that the truths we speak can heal the wounds we hide.
"A debut novel strong enough that Toni Morrison and Salman Rushdie went to bat for it.
The novel opens with Kweku wandering into his garden on the morning he dies. And deftly weaving years of his life together, Selasi tells the story of the three times his heart broke, each break never quite healing and leading to his death. And this beautiful section is only the first third of the book.
Retracing the same steps from each family member's eyes, the story of Kweku's family is never dull and while the reader is taken to the same river multiple times, it is never the same water. Each child as well as Kweku's first wife is given a clean slate to tell their path to Kweku's funeral in Ghana. And nothing is held back when the children are able to give their story to the reader, much as any family tells the whole truth to their diary and keeps telling their family that they are "okay".
The final third of the novel brings a sort of unfinished close to the family. And while the road might not be leveled out, the reader does feel better about leaving the family as they are now.
I love this book. Not just for the familial drama, but for the poetic voice and lines and composition of narrative. Think of it like watching a master craftswoman weave a beautiful yet meticulous blanket."
Current members have already received collectible volumes carrying the signatures of such award-winning authors as Margaret Atwood, Larry McMurtry, Erica Jong, James Lee Burke, Carol Shields, Carl Hiaasen, Peter Matthiessen, Russell Banks, Charles Johnson, Kaye Gibbons, Nick Hornby, Rick Bass, Pam Houston, Ian McEwan, Oscar Hijuelos, Christopher Buckley, Annie Proulx, Roddy Doyle, Isabel Allende, Kent Haruf, Tom McGuane, Ed McBain, Ian Frazier, Jane Smiley, Thomas Lynch, E.O Wilson, and James Welch.
You may enroll at any time or set up a gift membership for someone of your choice. Selections average $25.00 each, and if you have your book shipped you will be charged $8.00 shipping and handling. Automatic billing will be arranged by credit card, and monthly selections may be mailed out automatically or held at our reserve desk in Colfax Avenue, Historic LoDo, or Highlands Ranch based on your preference.
For more information, please contact us at: a.b.c@tatteredcover.com
You can meet the author on Monday, March 18, 2013!!!
Just come to our Colfax Avenue store at 7:30 pm, where Taiye Selasi will be reading from, discussing and signing her debut novel.
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