Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

In Freshwater, Akwaeke Emezi, tells the story of Ada, a young Igbo and Tamil woman. The story is narrated from several perspectives: “the We”, the gods inside of Ada; Asughara and Saint Vincent, the gods who break out while Ada is in college, and Ada herself. The novel particularly explores the Igbo concept of the ogbanje. Ogbanje is believed to be an evil spirit that deliberately plagues a family with misfortune. Its literal translation in igbo is "children who come and go". The ogbanje's goal is to cause their mother to suffer, as it possesses a child to die and then possesses the following child too, continuing the pattern of loss and pain unless somehow stopped. As stated in a Vox article, “Freshwater, is not a book about giving into one’s demons but about living with them. The book is about finding a home within liminal spaces- between genders, between life and death, between god and human - and finding a way to play within them.” Heart wrenching, and powerful, Freshwater is a gripping tale of an unusual way of experiencing the world, one that highlights how we build our identities.

The We

The We begin Ada's story, explaining how Ada is the daughter of Ala, the ultimate mother goddess, and is straddled between the human and the divine realms. The We narrate Ada’s childhood as she morphs into a young adult. Ada’s family comprises of her father, Saul, a nigerian doctor; her mother Sachi, a nurse, and two siblings, Anuli and Chima. Ada begins her life in the south of Nigeria as a troubled baby and a source of deep concern to her family as Her parents, Saul and Saachi, successfully prayed her into existence. While Ada is young, her mother moves abroad to work and that’s the beginning of Ada’s tumultuous childhood. At 16, Ada moves away from Nigeria to the United States for college. While in college, Ada meets Soren and they date for a while before Ada learns that Soren has been drugging and raping her through the course of their relationship. This is our introduction to Asughara. Ada’s sexual abuse experience awakens Asughara, one of the gods within the We, to break free.

Asughara

Asughara is as a fierce and dominant female, stating soon after her birth that Ada is hers to “move and take and save” (pp. 61-62). This personality (along with Saint Vincent) was awakened after Ada’s gruesome assault by her boyfriend, Soren. Asughara hinders Ada’s ability to cope with and recover from the trauma, as Ada takes a backseat in the “marble room” while Asughara feeds off rage, sex, and self-destructive behavior. A climactic moment in the plot was when Asughara persuaded Ada to attempt suicide. This unsuccessful attempt represented the start of Ada’s arduous journey to recovery and acceptance. By the end of the book, we see how Ada is coming to terms with who she is, saying that “it’s a relief to lie on [her] back on the sand, alive, and out of breath (p.217)” after wrestling for so long.

Saint Vincent

Saint Vincent, Ada’s calm and gentle personality, is a male that rarely got the opportunity to “run the show” like We and Asoghara. Nevertheless, it was interesting to observe how Emezi included this seemingly minor character to balance the striking dominance of Asughara and the We. Considering that Emezi identifies as non-binary trans, we felt this character was very important in depicting the complexity of gender identity.

Mental Health

A very interesting and thought provoking theme in Freshwater is mental illness. Freshwater is a disturbing, yet poetic, tale of mental illness as it haunts Ada from birth into adulthood: “the brief insanities that are in you, not just the ones that blossomed as you grew taller … but the ones you were born with, tucked behind your liver.” Throughout the story we see how Ada’s mental illness grows, transforms and destroys relationships and her sense of self. Ada’s story being rooted in igbo cosmology pushes us to question our understanding of the causes of mental illness and its manifestations. At first glance and from a western science perspective, Ada seems like someone suffering from multiple personality disorder. Eating disorders, cutting, depression, suicide are struggles not very often discussed among africans. So it is refreshing and yet, challenging, to see it discussed the way Emezi does in Freshwater. “Sectioning the Ada gave her isolated pockets of memory, each containing a different version of her” (page 209) - reading Ada’s story forces the reader to reflect on what it means to be a human being and how our identities are formed. Emezi has described her own transitional surgeries as “a bridge across realities, a spirit customizing its vessel to reflect its nature.”

Overall Review:

Emezi’s writing in this book is undoubtedly unique and poetic. Their ability to link such complex, yet intriguing, subjects as faith, gender, mental health, sexuality, and Igbo mythology was truly remarkable. It uncovered a whole new perspective on one’s view of his/herself. Yet, if you’re a reader that depends on continuity throughout the plot, you may struggle to follow the story’s progression. However, the lack of flow is likely a reflection of how fragmented Ada’s experiences were, given her multiple identities. Overall, it was an intense and intricately-written novel.

Favorite lines

“Sometimes you recognize the truth because it destroys you for a bit.”

“Understand this is you understand nothing: it is a powerful thing to be seen.”

“Love is transformative in that way. Like small gods, it can bring out the prophet in you. You find yourself selling dreams of spectacular hereafters, possible only if you believe, if you really, really believe.”

Discussion Questions:

1. Would you describe Ada as submissive to her personalities? Or vice versa? Would you say Ada had her own personality?

2. What are your thoughts on Emezi’s writing style?

3. How would you describe the interaction between Ada’s personalities and brothersisters? Would you consider them to be separate entities?

4. Were you familiar with igbo folklore and “ogbanje” before reading this book? If so, what do think of its depiction throughout the book?

5. As previously stated, Freshwater is semi-autobiographical - the attempted suicide, breast reduction, and self-harm are based on Emezi’s life. Does this change/affect how you view this body of work?

6. How do you think colonialism influenced how Africans view/treat/define “madness”?

7. How was your view on mental health influenced by this book, if at all?