Very, very rarely Ada herself does speak, giving the reader the sense (mostly) of the agony of being beset upon by these gods, constantly at their mercy, constantly pulled in different directions that ultimately seem only to point to her destruction-a destruction that will free the Ogbanje back to the brothersisters. She is almost solely self-centered (Asughara-centered over Ada-centered) at the cost of all others, though she also protects Ada in some ways from experiencing violence, particularly sexual violence. When Ada leaves Nigeria for college in the United States, she is shortly beset upon by one of the Ogbanje that becomes dominant enough to earn a name-Asughara.* Asughara is blood-thirsty and bent on destruction-others mostly, though her actions while embodying Ada will drive Ada to her limit. They return periodically, the Greek chorus filling in the audience, if the Greek chorus were the inner workings of a major character’s mind. The We open the book, describing Ada’s childhood in Nigeria as a middle child with a physically absent mother and an emotionally absent father. They are not of this world and they embody Ada such that she isn’t entirely either. She is subject to their whims in the sense that she can be querulous and divided in her attentions and wants.

The majority of the story is told from the viewpoint of the simmering, unnamed We-constantly in motion, constantly swirling around in Ada. When you name something, it comes into existence-did you know that? -Asugharaįreshwater is told in alternating viewpoints, though the viewpoints don’t share equal time, nor do they alternate in any particular order. I hope it scrapes your mouth bloody to say it.

She named me this name, Asughara, complete with that gritty slide of the throat halfway through. Besides, whatever they say will be the truest version of it, since they are the truest version of me….In many ways, you see, I am not even real. I don’t even have a mouth to tell this story. Her life is never easy-constantly at the whims of the spirits that embody her-and yet, perhaps because she is so full of spirits, her life has been more full than that experienced by others. We follow Ada from birth through young adulthood, experiencing her life as it is described largely by the Ogbanje themselves. I have never struggled this much to summarize a book in a way that does it justice.įreshwater is ultimately the story of Ada, beginning with her time as an embryo when she is first inhabited by the Ogbanje* spirits that will come to define her life. It’s not my favorite part of this process but I assume people want at least a basic plot summary at the beginning. I adored it.Īs a side note, I often write the synopsis last and usually struggle. Freshwater is going to be one of those books that draws a strong reaction from people-the viewpoint is non-standard, the structure unusual, and the content will be blasphemous for some.

Freshwater emezi review