The Teller of Secrets

A Novel

By: Bisi Adjapon

Narrated by: Anniwaa Buachie

"Bisi Adjapon writes with incredible vividness and clarity. Extraordinary."—Dave Eggers, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

"Bisi Adjapon uses language like a finely tuned instrument, alternating moments of warmth with devastating revelations about identity, family, and those lies we tell ourselves in order to keep moving forward."— Maaza Mengiste, author of The Shadow King

In this stunning debut novel—a tale of self-discovery and feminist awakening—a feisty Nigerian-Ghanaian girl growing up amid the political upheaval of late 1960s postcolonial Ghana begins to question the hypocrisy of her patriarchal society, and the restrictions and unrealistic expectations placed on women.

Young Esi Agyekum is the unofficial "secret keeper" of her family, as tight-lipped about her father's adultery as she is about her half-sisters' sex lives. But after she is humiliated and punished for her own sexual exploration, Esi begins to question why women's secrets and men's secrets bear different consequences. It is the beginning of a journey of discovery that will lead her to unexpected places.

As she navigates her burgeoning womanhood, Esi tries to reconcile her own ideals and dreams with her family's complicated past and troubled present, as well as society's many double standards that limit her and other women. Against a fraught political climate, Esi fights to carve out her own identity, and learns to manifest her power in surprising and inspiring ways.

Funny, fresh, and fiercely original, Of Women and Frogs marks the American debut of one of West Africa's most exciting literary talents.

©2021 Bisi Adjapon (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

The honest truth

I love going on this the journey of self discovery and cultural navigation; finding her voice amid the pressure of society and having the strength to go it alone no matter the consequences.

A beautifully honest story of an imperfect girl

Esi is hardheaded, passionate and relatable. That’s why I love this book! It transports you into Esi’s world so vividly and I really felt her pain and her joy. The narrator did such an amazing job of capturing Esi’s voice throughout her development too. This book is definitely in my top 5 reads.

so explicit and honest

great narrator. I felt I was part of the story. Amazing the challenges of women in different cultures.

Storyline

The strong character was likable and I particularly liked the historical setting.
The reader’s pronunciation was atrocious though, and her voice was grating. It almost ruined the very enjoyable story

Wonderful story

I enjoyed following along in Essie’s life. She goes from being a young girl, thinking only of herself and grows into a woman who thinks of others needs. Beautifully written and narrated. I will look for more books by this author

The dairy of an African girl turning into a woman

There’s no words to describe how wonderful this book is. You read and come up with words to describe the book. I love this book!

Internal Beauty’s the name

Loved the narration! The story was a little too titillating at times but overall, quite entertaining.

Enjoyed my time

I really enjoyed listening to Essi’s story. One of resilience and strength and of course hurt and disappointment.

Narrated brilliantly

I listened to the audio version of “The Teller of Secrets”. Anniwaa Buachie narrates, and she is fantastic. Her voice range kept me listening to this story.

I have mixed feelings about this one. It’s advertised as “a tale of self-discovery and feminist awakening”. I found the feminist pieces a bit overwrought at times. I enjoyed the “coming of age” part because the novel’s narrator, Esi, is maturing during a politically stormy time in 1960s Ghana and Nigeria.

Esi’s mother went away when she was 4. She’s raised by her father, who is a headmaster at a school, and her half-sisters and stepmother. Author Adjapon uses Esi to expose the patriarchy abuses at that time. But Adjapon also shows how women are horrible to each other. Esi endures harsh treatment as her sexuality blooms. The women in her life do not help her understand her body and all its changes. I was more horrified by how she was treated by women than by the men in her life. Her father is overbearing and demanding, but her sisters and stepmother are physically abusive.

Esi has a spunky voice. She sees inequities everywhere. She goes to boarding schools and she discerns the attitude differences for men and women. When she enters university, her eyes widen even more. Men have power and ability to succeed and do what they want, while women are subjugated. Esi encounters the politics of racism, women’s rights, divorce, and abortion.

I mostly enjoyed being in the head of Esi as she grew up. Some of her anger due to the inequities she saw or endured was frustrating. There’s a lot of anger and frustration in this novel.

The historical fiction pieces of the story were interesting to me, as Adjapon weaved it into Esi’s life. Some of the feminist anger was a bit overboard for me. Other reviewers attribute Adjapon’s lack of focus on all the issues she introduced. Maybe that is it; too many concepts that were lightly touched.

A bit infantile

I had to stop as I was getting really annoyed with the naïveté of the protagonist. The result of this led to a lot of shouting at her without out explanation. No enlightenment in the end. Deleted without finishing