Though sometimes referred to as a madness, what Ada experiences is considered almost entirely outside of the realm of mental illness, with the exception of the knowledge of what mental health professionals would do to her if they knew about the realities of her existence. And yet, that’s not what’s happening here. These names are infused with stigma, names like schizophrenia or mental illness. In the West, there are names for having multiple selves or hearing voices. Saint Vincent, who we never hear from directly, comes toward the end, while Asụghara emerges in a moment of pain and vows to never let Ada experience that pain again. As the novel continues and time passes, we are introduced to Ada along with her other selves: Asụghara and Saint Vincent. They call her ‘the Ada’ and they are called ‘We.’ Even before we meet Ada, we meet them and they become part of Ada’s self. In this sense, it could be seen as a coming-of-age tale, but from the outset, Freshwater is unlike anything I have ever read and this is why: twin spirits who speak in tandem are betrothed to a human body. The novel then follows Ada into her twenties. Freshwater, the debut novel by Akwaeke Emezi, tells the story of Ada, a girl of Igbo and Tamil heritage who grows up among her siblings and father in Nigeria before moving to Virginia to attend college.
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