Jane Abieyuwa Igharo was born in Nigeria and immigrated to Canada at the age of twelve. She has a journalism degree from the University of Toronto and works as a communications specialist in Ontario, Canada. When she isn't writing, she's watching Homecoming for the hundredth time, and trying to match Beyoncé's vocals to no avail.
At twelve years old, Azere promised her dying father she would marry a Nigerian man and preserve her culture, even after immigrating to Canada. Her mother has been vigilant about helping—well, forcing—her to stay within the Nigerian dating pool ever since. But when another match-made-by-mom goes wrong, Azere ends up at a bar, enjoying the company and later sharing the bed of Rafael Castellano, a man who is tall, handsome, and . . . white. When their one-night stand unexpectedly evolves into something serious, Azere is caught between her feelings for Rafael and the compulsive need to please her mother. Soon, Azere can't help wondering if loving Rafael makes her any less of a Nigerian. Can she be with him without compromising her identity? The answer will either cause Azere to be audacious and fight for her happiness, or continue to be the compliant daughter.
This story, summed up in a sentence, is about a Nigerian Canadian woman finding her voice and standing up for what she wants for her life. Azere is a driven woman, but is tied to promises she made in her youth, despite how much they hurt her in the present. This novel starts with a disaster-date-turned-one-night-stand, and I personally enjoyed how the one night stand didn't get nearly as much attention as Azere's culture and her background in the beginning. This narrative decision puts the focus squarely on Azere's identity and fight related to her culture, rather than the hard decisions she makes throughout the novel. It goes a long way to show that this novel is going to be about way more than just romance, so it set the scene nicely. Azere's develops linearly throughout the novel, the familiarity of which I found comforting as it allowed Igharo to really drive home the complicated topics she addresses; among those are interracial and intercultural relationships and parenting, surprise pregnancies, lost loved ones, the immigrant experience, and family relationships. The surprise pregnancy twist I was not expecting, but was a great route for opening the door to discussing all the other topics I listed. As Igharo explains in her acknowledgments section and her bio, she also immigrated to Canada from Nigeria and has lost a closed family loved one—I could feel the heart of those experiences bleeding through the prose, in a way that made Azere's story more heartfelt and authentic than most other romance novel heroine experiences usually are. Igharo also develops Azere's familial tensions well, depicting a Nigerian family that is intense in both their loving and their scorn, creating beautiful metaphors of what it means to have multiple cultural identities and beliefs. Overall, Azere's story was satisfying and truthful, full of both heart and wit, of moments of laughs and tears. I'm so glad Igharo brought her experiences to life through telling Azere's story.
Two men in Azere's life throughout the course of the novel thwart and help her advances towards finding her voice. The first: Rafael. Rafael is a good but secretive man. I enjoyed how the few chapters in his point of view, sprinkled evenly throughout the novel, did a sly job at developing him as a character with mystery. Otherwise, he would have been the forbidden object, rather than a character in his own right. While the earlier chapters in his point of view didn't add as much to the story as I thought they could, it might be because some of the subtler details (ex: his concern over Azere driving in a storm) were lost without knowing his backstory from the beginning. However, I loved that his backstory was revealed later at the end, and that it became a very "straw that broke the camel's back" for Azere—that turning point was crucial for her, and for him, and the placement and build up to it was wonderfully done, helped by the chapters in Rafael's point of view. As I was discovering more about Rafael, I also enjoyed the decision to have Rafael be a man tied to his own culture and heritage. It made the conversations about intercultural relationships that much weightier, and overall made the romance and conflict between him and Azere richer and more complicated. The other man is Elijah, an Edo man that Azere's mother adores. Unlike Rafael, I felt like the potential of Elijah's character was not taken full advantage of. I couldn't help but wish that Elijah's character had been developed a bit more and earlier in the novel, especially since he returns so many times. Later on in the novel, when Azere pivots quickly back to Elijah, I found the decision unrealistic, especially since Azere didn't really try to love him for her own sake. Had Azere been able to find some redeeming qualities in him, it would have made her attempt more valiant, and thus even more heartbreaking that it didn't work. Elijah oftentimes just felt like an object Azere hoped to attain, rather than an actual man, which was disappointing because it could have helped heighten the stakes and create more of a rounded cast of characters for Azere's story.
Igharo's writing style is both bold and casual, which creates a fast-paced, captivating read. It matches the main character's energy—Azere is both striking and reserved, creating a comfortable and not-too-intense space for Igharo to explore the difficult topics addressed in this novel. Igharo utilizes a pretty serious tone when addressing these intense topics, which can sometimes feel like a 180 from her incredibly descriptive (sometimes bordering on familiar) romance/steamy scenes. One of my favorite narrative choices was Azere's deep love for romantic movies (usually romantic comedies) and how that helped develop Azere's identity as a Nigerian Canadian alongside all of the introspective moments of Azere reflecting on her identity. Her references added some brevity to some difficult moments, and overall worked up to one of the most beautiful romance novel proposals I have ever read. It felt absolutely right to leave Rafael's and Azere's story with an ending just as bright and happy as the ending of Notting Hill.
Jane Igharo's next novel, The Sweetest Remedy, is slated for a fall 2021 release. Be on the lookout for it wherever books are sold later this year—I know I will be!
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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