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Freshwater explores the surreal experience of having a fractured self. It centers around a young Nigerian woman, Ada, who develops separate selves within her as a result of being born "with one foot on the other side." Unsettling, heartwrenching, dark, and powerful, Freshwater is a sharp evocation of a rare way of experiencing the world, one that illuminates how we all construct our identities. Ada begins her life in the south of Nigeria as a troubled baby and a source of deep concern to her family. Her parents, Saul and Saachi, successfully prayed her into existence, but as she grows into a volatile and splintered child, it becomes clear that something went terribly awry. When Ada comes of age and moves to America for college, the group of selves within her grows in power and agency. A traumatic assault leads to a crystallization of her alternate selves: Asụghara and Saint Vincent. As Ada fades into the background of her own mind and these selves, now protective, now hedonistic, move into control, Ada's life spirals in a dark and dangerous direction. Narrated from the perspective of the various selves within Ada, and based in the author's realities, Freshwater explores the metaphysics of identity and mental health, plunging the reader into the mystery of being and self. Freshwater dazzles with ferocious energy and serpentine grace, heralding the arrival of a fierce new literary voice.
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Subjects
Women, Non-binary people, trauma, Identity (Psychology), Fiction, Fiction, biographical, Nigeria, fiction, Fiction, women, Igbo, Ogbanje, New York Times reviewed, LGBTQ gender identity, LGBTQ science fiction & fantasy, collection:otherwise_tiptree_award=winner, FICTION / Literary, Mental DisordersShowing 13 featured editions. View all 13 editions?
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Freshwater
Mar 01, 2021, Highbridge Audio and Blackstone Publishing
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1665139692 9781665139694
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Book Details
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Work Description
Both a recounting of trauma and its impacts, as well as a retelling of a Nigerian fable. The main character's multiple experiences of trauma are retold and the author unflinchingly explores how they are impacted (e.g., self-harm, dissociation). The character's psychology is viewed through a non-Western lens.
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Feedback?July 30, 2023 | Edited by | Merge works |
December 18, 2022 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
December 12, 2022 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
November 8, 2021 | Edited by Jenner | Edited without comment. |
March 21, 2019 | Created by ImportBot | import new book |