But it’s also a story of survival and strength and of coming to terms with what it means to survive. It is not an easy experience it’s a story of trauma and violence and heartbreak. Freshwater embeds you deep into Ada’s mind, demanding that you feel what this young woman feels, that you see the world the way she does. But then something vivid and clear happens - Asughara turns the tables on another domineering man with her unbridled sexuality, say - and Emezi’s prose calls the reader to attention. In those parts of the book, the reader is left floating in a sea of language which sounds pretty, but which doesn’t seem to be actively describing anything. Some scenes lack a sense of place or a narrative thrust. Freshwater at times feels a little too unmoored from reality. What is reading, but inviting another voice to take up residence in your head? Emezi’s voice is hypnotic and powerful and imaginative, leaving the reader unsure of what in the story is real and what is not. National Book Award finalists is PET, a sinister morality tale by Akwaeke Emezi. These voices in Freshwater - the chorus of personalities - should feel familiar to anyone who spends a lot of time lost in books. Akwaeke Emezi is an honoree on the National Book Foundations '5 Under 35' list, a long-list nominee for the Carnegie Medal of Excellence, and a short-list nominee for the Center for Fictions First Novel Prize.
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