Stay With Me

Shortlisted for the 2017 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction

"[A] stunning debut novel.... At once, a gothic parable about pride and betrayal; a thoroughly contemporary-and deeply moving-portrait of a marriage; and a novel, in the lineage of great works by Chinua Achebe and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.... Adebayo, who is 29, is an exceptional storyteller. She writes not just with extraordinary grace but with genuine wisdom about love and loss and the possibility of redemption. She has written a powerfully magnetic and heartbreaking book." -Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

"A bright, big-hearted demonstration of female spirit, as well as the damage done by the boundlessness of male pride." -The Guardian

"Adebayo gifts readers with an emotionally powerful first novel that relies less on literary artifice and more on old-fashioned storytelling. She plumbs the depths of the loving marriage of Akin and Yejide, a couple complete in themselves, until Akin's family sows division by excoriating Yejide for failing to produce children... Adebayo's work makes a blazing entry onto the list of young, talented writers from Nigeria. Readers who pick up this debut novel will not put it down until they've finished." -Ally Bissell, Library Journal (Starred Review)

"Adebayo describes parenthood and love with heartbreaking prose. She deftly reveals secrets and the decisions that set life-altering events in motion. The story's fast pace brings surprising twists to Akin, Yejide, and their families' lives." -Booklist (Starred Review)

"Culminates in a tender, satisfying conclusion." -Publishers Weekly (Starred and Boxed Review)