Stella is a smart and brilliant child of her Ghanaian parents in London. She and her mother are abused by her “angry” father. He beats her for being “in-so-lent” and her mother and older brother Sol do not intervene. To aggravate the situation, Stella has Addison Disease which affects her energy and mood. Friendship, school and touching wood are the ways Stella survive all this terrible situation in her life. Her mother finally finds the courage to leave the marriage and set herself free. Though her past still haunts her, Stella takes on life and finds friendships to heal the wounds.
Thank you, One World Publications, for this review copy.
Let's get into the review, shall we?
Things I liked: The survival story of Stella is very beautiful and inspiring. Though the story centres on abuse and dealing with trauma, it also gave me a sweet survival and success story which filled me with hope.
I am Ghanaian and some part of this book is set in Ghana so obviously I liked some “not all” of the Ghanaianess in the book. I also think that Amuah nailed the wedding part in the book, that part totally blew me away. The way she wrote and described the Ghanaian marriage is beautiful.
Sol (Stella’s Brother) struck me as one of those Bougie Ghanaians in the diaspora with their heads up their arrogant and clueless ass. I did not like him. I did not like her father but I did not like Sol even more.
Another thing I loved are the themes: friendship, survival, and intergenerational trauma. Friendship is a beautiful thing and Amuah did a good job describing how the story of friendship can be a saving grace.
A thing I have come to love is short chapters and this book gave me that. In my opinion, it is easier to read. Another thing I must commend the author for is the writing, it wasn’t doing too much. Less is More. The writing is easy and smooth.
Things I did not like: Explaining each Ghanaian word and phrase. It is too much; it took away the beauty of the story. Those that get it, get it. Those that don’t, don’t! Instead of describing everything, I would suggest a glossary on the back page.
That phrase in the chapter The Family Protector about Africans eating on the floor got on my last nerve. I mean How? It is an insult to an entire continent and very distasteful.
Aside these things, One for Sorrow, Two for Joy is a beautiful heart-breaking survival story.
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