Maame

Maddie receives a phone call about her father’s postmortem results. Her father died of twisted intestines, a side effect of Parkinson’s. Maddie researches how to work through grief. Her mother continues to pressure her to pay for the funeral. Maddie and her mother get on the phone to register Maddie’s father’s death. The registrar asks many questions and gets so many details wrong about her father that Maddie grows angry and screams at her, alarming her mother. Maddie runs home and screams into her pillow. Her mother texts her, reminding her that they need to stick together in times of distress.

The funeral costs 6,000 pounds. Maddie contributes half of her savings, her mother and brother contribute 1,000 pounds, and her aunt and uncle pay the rest. Jo’s ex-boyfriend, Sam, comes over. He’s a handsome Black man with a charming personality, and he and Maddie get along. He’s an illustrator and knows about Maddie’s company because they’ve reached out to him for work. She secretly hopes he and Jo don’t get back together. Later, she distracts herself with a bike ride, listening to music through headphones.

Maddie and her mother go to the funeral parlor to discuss details. They tell the manager, Ros, details about Maddie’s father, such as his favorite food. Maddie’s mother reveals that Maddie gets her love of reading from her father, who once worked as a librarian and at a private school, facts Maddie never knew about him. Maddie’s mother wants the funeral parlor to clip her husband’s nails so she can send the clippings to Ghana per tradition. Ros offers to make a fingerprint, which delights Maddie. Despite this, she grows annoyed with Ros’s many questions.

Maddie and her mother return to the funeral parlor to view Maddie’s father’s body. Maddie and her mother cry over his body, her mother speaking in Twi and Maddie telling him that she loves him. Nia has lunch with Maddie after. Nia’s father died when she was in school, so Nia sympathizes with her; Maddie apologizes for not talking to Nia about her father’s death. Nia points out that while death is universal, the ways in which people deal with grief are not.

At her apartment, Maddie overhears Jo talking to her friends about Maddie. Maddie cries because they talk about her being weird. She then hears them talk about Sam. He and Jo both want to get back together. Maddie recognizes that men must like Jo because she’s carefree and fun, whereas she struggles with various issues. She wonders if she’ll ever be happy: “I actually haven’t been okay for a while and it’s scary having to think so far back. It means I’ve been slowly falling apart for a very long time and it might take even longer to piece me back together” (205). She listens to a church broadcast and is moved by the call to prayer. Maddie tries to pray for herself.

Maddie remembers the writing fellowship she saw while looking for jobs. She submits a short essay about her father even though she doesn’t think it’s good. She then researches how to deal with insomnia. Maddie signs up for a dating app and starts chatting with men. Some of them are kind, but others voice their desire to have sex with a Black woman. Later, a man named Alex asks her out on a date.

Maddie checks her work email, which she’s ignored for a few days. She finds out that her proposal to work with Afra Yazden-Blake has been pursued. Afra has signed on with OTP to write a book titled Love Stories From the Middle East, edited by Kris. No one mentions Maddie’s involvement, so she writes an email subtly mentioning that she was the one to discover Afra. Kris writes back right away, encouraging Maddie to take as much time away from work as she needs. She also sends links to photographers, asking which photographer might work best with Afra.

As Maddie’s date, Alex, identifies as bisexual, she calls Shu and asks why she is a lesbian rather than bisexual. Shu explains that she simply prefers women. Later, Maddie meets Alex at a coffee house. He’s handsome, kind, and upfront about being bisexual. He explains to Maddie what it’s like to be bisexual, especially when dealing with people’s preconceived notions about him. As a Black woman, Maddie understands being judged. She decides she doesn’t have an issue with Alex being bisexual. They spend two hours talking, and then Alex kisses her goodbye.

Maddie’s mother reminds her that she needs to write her father’s eulogy. Despite how close she and her father had been, Maddie has a difficult time coming up with words. She researches how to write a eulogy but gives up.

After two weeks away, Maddie returns to work. She is so overwhelmed by everyone at work reaching out to her that she leaves the building for lunch to avoid a panic attack.

Alex asks Maddie out on a second date to go bowling. They talk, and she pretends her father is still alive and that her family is close. She asks Alex about work and hobbies. Alex is a senior sales executive, but his passion is photography. He admits to feeling pressure to make money and have a stable life, to the detriment of true happiness. Maddie opens up about being fired from CGT and her depression, which she’s never done before. Later, she researches depression, and one message on a thread points out that if anyone is reading a message board about depression, they probably have it and should seek help.

At work, Penny speaks to Maddie about her mental health. Penny says the company has a counselor who can work with Maddie for free. She found a Black woman to be Maddie’s therapist and can arrange a time for them to meet without anyone knowing. Maddie agrees and meets with the therapist, Angelina. Angelina is also Ghanaian, so she and Maddie speak openly about the pressures and pleasures of Ghanaian culture. She asks Maddie if she likes her Ghanaian nickname, Maame, which means “woman” or “mother.” Maddie admits the name has made her grow up quickly.

Maddie leaves work worried about separating Maddie and Maame—to her, these two identities are intertwined. She comes across her mother in a coffee shop with another man, her boyfriend, Kwaku. Maddie’s mother cries in Kwaku’s arms. They’re affectionate with each other, which infuriates and confuses Maddie. She can’t turn away, and the couple see her. Her mother looks horrified, and Maddie runs off, back to her parents’ apartment.

James meets Maddie at their parents’ apartment, as their mother told him about Maddie finding her with Kwaku. When her mother returns, Maddie accuses her of preaching Christian values but having no problem with adultery. She calls out James and her mother for pressuring and never taking care of her. When her mother calls her Maame, she screams at her to stop using the name. After the confrontation, Maddie feels proud of herself—but in the morning, she regrets swearing at her mother.

Maddie has a rough day at work and leaves in tears. She meets with Alex. She regrets lying to him, especially since Ben lied to her. Maddie goes back to Alex’s apartment with him. She knows he wants to have sex and decides sex can make up for her lies. She disassociates during foreplay, though sex with Alex is not as painful as it was with Ben. Alex can tell something is wrong, and Maddie admits sex is painful for her. He is empathetic but says sexual connection is important to him. Maddie posits that she’ll get better at sex with time, but Alex doesn’t want to try again, knowing it gives her pain. He breaks things off.