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Daughter in exile : a novel

by Adjapon, Bisi,

Format: Print Book 2023
Availability: Available at 7 Libraries 7 of 10 copies

Available (7)
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CLP - Lawrenceville Fiction Collection FICTION Adjapon
Location  CLP - Lawrenceville
 
Collection  Fiction Collection
 
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CLP - Main Library First Floor - New Fiction FICTION Adjapon
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Collection  First Floor - New Fiction
 
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CLP - Woods Run Fiction Collection FICTION Adjapon
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Monroeville Public Library New Books ADJAPON BISI
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Northland Public Library New Books FIC ADJAPON
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Upper St. Clair Township Library New Book Shelves - Fiction LITERARY ADJAPON Bisi
Location  Upper St. Clair Township Library
 
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Whitehall Public Library New Book Collection FIC Adjapon
Location  Whitehall Public Library
 
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Summary

The acclaimed author of The Teller of Secrets returns with a gut-wrenching, yet heartwarming, story about a young Ghanaian woman's struggle to make a life in the US, and the challenges she must overcome.

Lola is twenty-one, and her life in Senegal couldn't be better. An aspiring writer and university graduate, she has a great job, a nice apartment, a vibrant social life, and a future filled with possibility. But fate disrupts her world when she falls for Armand, an American Marine stationed at the U.S. Embassy. Her mother, a high court judge in Ghana, disapproves of her choice, but nothing will stop Lola from boarding a plane for Armand and America.

That fateful flight is only the beginning of an extraordinary journey; she has traded her carefree existence in Senegal for the perilous position of an undocumented immigrant in 1990s America.

Lola encounters adversity that would crush a less-determined woman. Her fate hangs on whether or not she'll grow in courage to forge a different life from one she'd imagined, whether she'll succeed in putting herself and family together again. Daughter in Exile is a hope-filled story about mother love, resilience, and unyielding strength.

Published Reviews
Booklist Review: "Adjapon's second novel feels almost like a sequel to The Teller of Secrets (2021) as it features a 21-year-old Ghanaian woman named Lola, who finds out the hard way what it means to immigrate to America. It's 1995, and Lola is living a promising life in Senegal when she meets an American marine stationed at the U.S. embassy, falls in love, gets pregnant, and leaves everything behind to follow him to the U.S. Upon arriving in New York, she is abandoned by her lover and left stranded with only $250 to her name. Through the kindness of mutual connections, she makes it to Maryland, gives birth to a son, and finds work. In Senegal, Lola worked at a Thai embassy and was able to afford fancy dinners and household help. In America, she couch surfs with an infant, discriminated against due to her skin color and taken advantage of due to her illegal status. Refusing to return to Ghana empty-handed, she perseveres until 2007 when she finally finds out whether or not she'll get deported. Adjapon's dramatic and engaging character-driven story captures the trauma of living as an undocumented immigrant. Lola's fortitude sends a clear message that human kindness and compassion can make all the difference."
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Publisher's Weekly Review: "Adjapon (The Teller of Secrets) chronicles a Ghanaian woman's wrenching story of migration, disillusionment, and resilience. Lola has an embassy job in Dakar, Senegal, in the late 1990s, and her relationship with American Marine Armand takes on higher stakes when Lola, unexpectedly pregnant, travels to America to give birth so their child will have U.S. citizenship. Soon, though, Armand disavows Lola, leaving her stranded. But the smart and resourceful Lola takes advantage of her diplomatic connections and her education to persist through an exhausting series of setbacks over the next several years, culminating in a 2007 immigration case that will decide her fate. Adjapon's fast-moving, character-driven narrative illuminates the challenges faced by immigrants; Lola is constantly at risk of exploitation by potential employers, her housing situation is perpetually tenuous, and she struggles to find acceptance. As an immigrant, she feels alienated from African American communities, though she eventually finds something of a community with the members of a Christian church. Her trust, however, only goes so far, and Adjapon pulls off a strikingly frank portrait of a woman worn down by the system (waiting on news of whether she'll be deported to Ghana, Lola reflects, "I welcome either choice. I'm weary of peripheral living"). Adjapon continues to dazzle. (Mar.)"
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Additional Information
Subjects Ghanaians -- United States -- Fiction.
Young women -- Fiction.
Mothers and daughters -- Fiction.
Authors, Ghanaian -- Fiction.
Noncitizens -- United States -- Fiction.
Illegal immigration -- United States -- Fiction.
Domestic fiction.
Publisher New York, NY :HarperVia,2023
Edition First edition.
Language English
Description 395 pages ; 24 cm
ISBN 9780063089020
0063089025
Other Classic View