WOW!
If you are looking for a book that will make you want to smile and rip your heart out, this is the book for you.

This story follows Maddie, who is a 25 year old living in London. She works as a PA on minimum wage and she lives at home because she is the main caretaker of her father, who has Parkinson’s. This responsibility has fallen on Maddie because her mother is constantly back and forth between London and Ghana (she still finds enough time to criticise Maddie and ask her for money), and her brother, who, although he lives in London, never seems to have the time to visit, (he has time to ask for money though).

We see Maddie attempt to navigate her difficult family and wrestle with the guilt of wanting more than just being a carer. We also see her go on a journey to learn more about herself and uncover some heavily buried feelings. There is laughter and heartbreak in this incredibly real and beautifully written book.


This book touched on all the things that are terrifying about being in your 20’s and the struggling of dealing with family and navigating life on your own.
Maame deals with grief, racism, heartbreak, love family and friendship.

I loved this book and I think it is going to be very popular following its publication. I highly recommend everyone reads it!

This was one of my most anticipated reads for early 2023.
Whilst I enjoyed the audiobook, and looked forward to reading it, it didn't quite live up to my high expectations.
I loved the characters. Maddie reminded me an awful lot of myself at times, with her social awkwardness. Her father made my heart melt, although I had to search whether Parkinsons has confusion symptoms as I associated it more with dementia. That said, it was a good story, and a hugely relevant one, but when I think back, not a great deal happened in terms of plot. I am much more of a plot reader than a character one, but this I think had to be so.
The narrator was wonderful, she did a great job of conveying the emotions Maddie was feeling through the book, and I would certainly listen to more from her.

I love a complicated young woman in her 20s and I really enjoyed this perspective from a young black woman, caring for her dying father in London.

I loved spending time with Maddie as she navigated her family, her job, her relationship with her father, sex and dating and her friendships.

This book covers a lot about what it means to be both yourself and a daughter and I loved learning about the traditions of Ghanaian culture through and how Maddie balanced the past and the present within her family.

There’s going to be a lot of buzz around this book when it comes out and I’m looking forward to hearing what everyone thinks of it.

4 stars

"It seems there is a link between our names and our supposed destiny. We could apply that thinking to the name Maame: the responsible one. The woman. The mother. Often before her time."

Maddie is in twenties, lives at home and is her father's primary care giver. Her mother lives in Ghana most of the time and her brother James makes excuses for being absent. Her mother is domineering and despite being miles away, she is the matriarch of the family. It is Maddie who plays the bills and sends money to her mother when it is demanded. It is Maddie who carries the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Upon her mother's insistence, Maddie finally moves away from home after her mother comes back from Ghana. What follows is a difficult journey of self-discovery - deeply emotional and heartbreaking at times but through it all, Maddie finally learns to stand up for herself.

A poignant and deeply honest coming of age read; Maame is an outstanding debut novel.

This is the *definition* of a coming-of-age story, a young woman going wading her way through her early twenties and tackling some extremely difficult situations. Maddie is a fantastic lead character and she was written so realistically, that you felt like you were on her journey right along side her. This book made me laugh and it made me well up- 100% recommend it!

A brilliant, captivating debut novel, set in London with characters you love and want to know more about as you keep reading. Really great and easy-to-read novel.

I loved Maame's story and her character development in a journey of self-discovery.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Hodder and Stoughton for the much-appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

This was an emjoyable read with a captivating, sympathetic main character who really made you root for her. I related to Maame a lot and I really got attached to her. I loved reading about her ups and downs, her finding her own feet and self, and becoming independent. Sometimes she felt naive and that was frustrating, but the way she just puts everyone before herself was also kind of endearing. I think this was just a very lovely debut and I'm looking forward to whatever the author has coming up next.

i think that this will definitely appeal to a lot of readers but i find the tone slightly too forced, in a movie kind of way, with the narrator showing some awareness of our presence: "I do have Avi (you'll meet her later on...prepare yourself)". The side characters are fairly one-dimensional, we even have the 'mean' lesbian friend. On that note, not to keen on the simplistic way sexuality, in particular lesbianism and bisexuality were discussed...
I wish the author hadn't gone so above and beyond into trying to make the main character sympathetic (ie: she the one who is wronged: by her mom, her brother, her workplace, even her friends...give her some flaws pls!).
If this is on your radar I recommend you give it a shot as I am notoriously a contrarian when it comes to romance-adjacent books.

I really wanted to love this book and I partly did .
First I must confess I love maddie, I think as a character she is so multi faceted I could read so much more of her life story. She’s a character who feels so deeply and the writing once it focuses solely on maddie is really engaging and thought provoking.

It’s a story about growing up , family and societal pressure , love and grief.

Although this book has many wonderful qualities my biggest issue came with the characters surrounding maddie , from love interests to her friends I just found that none of the other characters had the depth that maddie had and felt almost rushed especially in terms of maddies love interests.
It was such a shame as it was almost night and day in terms of the writing and it felt as if the author really wasn’t committed to the backstories of the other characters. They just didn’t feel developed and as such it was really hard for me to truly believe the world in which maddie lived .
This maybe a reflection though on how strong the character of maddie was rather than the surrounding characters not being as strong and I feel different readers will feel equally different to this story.
I would recommend this book to everyone as I think (to use an English euphemism) it’s a bit of a marmite book .

One of my favourite books of the year. Maddie is instantly likeable, and her story pulls the reader in from the go. The issues discussed are manifold - family, friendship, love, grief, depression and selfworth - yet Maame never felt didactic or forced. I highly recommend Maame to anyone and can't wait to see what Jessica George will write next.

Maame is a sweet story about Maddie, who has taken on a caring role in her family at the expense of her own personal life. I thought it was well-written and readable, but suspect I am somewhat older than the target audience - particularly for the storyline about Maddie's love life, which reads almost like YA, she is such an innocent. Readers in their early twenties may get more out of that than I did. Maddie's mother and brother treat her pretty badly, and you can't help feeling sorry for her having had so much responsibility heaped upon her from a young age. Overall, a quiet, pleasant read.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and #Netgalley for my proof copy of #Maame

I absolutely loved this book! Relatable characters and I just really loved Maddie and her attitude to life. Complicated families, secrets and workplace difficulties all add up to a wonderfully interesting read. Highly recommended. Thanks to Jessica George, Hodder and Netgalley for the ARC.

Maame by Jessica George is an amazingly impressive debut novel. It follows the protagonist Maddie Wright (known as Maame) as she navigates her way through life. It is an inspiring and authentic story about struggling to find your place while dealing with the responsibilities and obligations of family. Maddie simply doesn’t yet know who she is outside her familial duties. A relatable portrayal of grief and mental health struggles highlighting the complexities of balancing expectations with reality. A truly contemporary ‘coming of age’ story about seeking and securing identity.
Thanks to Hodder and Stoughton and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this heartwarming and empowering book.

This was a brilliantly written book. Maddie is a PA struggling to fit in at work and with friends, due to the pressures she feels to look after her ill father and the everyday racism she experiences in a hundred tiny ways every day. Having lived a very constrained life at home, the book follows her late blooming coming of age as she moves out, dates and tries to improve her career. The guilt, worry and confusion she feels is very well described, but not too harrowing. This book has a similar feel to Queenie, but has a happier tone. Maddie comes off as young and naive, which helps the book explain some issues without sounding too patronising or exposition heavy. I was rooting for Maddie and thoroughly enjoyed her journey. A very modern, smart version of Bridget Jones!

From early on with this book, I felt like I was in safe hands. This author can write! I am not the target audience being somewhat older than 20 something but she made me see what being a young, beautiful black woman is like. Negotiating work, family, grief, culture, friends and relationships, I was right there. Excellent, definitely one to watch.

Thanks to NetGalley and The Publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars rounded up

I absolutely adore this book! This book was so relatable even though I'm a fair bit older than the main protagonist, Many of the themes in this book are ageless but written of this time, which made connecting with it so effortless This book came to me at the prefect time and made me feel less alone in the world. The pages flew by and I didn't want it to end. Funny, emotive, but most of all an authentic portrayal of a young black women navigating the highs and lows, that life throws at you. Ending my 2022 reading on a high. Will be high on my list of recommended books to look out for in 2023

Thank you Net Galley and Hodder & Stoughton for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed reading this as it was very well written. The emotion that was built into the entire novel was incredible - it felt like Maddie was speaking to you the whole time. It felt so genuine and that the author had taken time to create this 3D character that could have been sitting right in front of you.

The book explores leaving home and how a person has to deal with all these new feelings, with the aim of becoming their own unique person. Maame is breathtakingly beautiful and I would recommend this to everyone as it is relatable. I do suggest reading the content warnings before reading, as grief and sexual assault are both mentioned multiple times.

4.5 stars
This is a coming of age story that I could immediately empathise with, given that the main character is that bit older than those in similar stories.
We see Maddie go on a real journey, starting off at rock bottom, which immediately had me rooting for her.
It also gives a wonderful insight into different family dynamics, as well as everything from familial duty and racism, to female pleasure and love, as well as what it feels like to be right in the middle between two different and often opposing cultures and homes.
The characters were well formed, completely believable and relatable, all at the same time.
Maame had me laughing as well as almost on the verge of tears.
I will certainly be keeping an eye out for what Jessica George does next.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Maame is a refreshing debut for what it is - about the daughter of Ghanaian immigrants in a constant battle between choosing herself versus her sense of duty. A love letter to not just daughters of African parents, but first daughters everywhere. The issues of duty and guilt, identity and culture, grief, mental health, abandonment and black tax were so deftly covered that you could really feel Maddie's pain, guilt, trepidation and anger shine on the page.

That said, Maddie was a frustrating character e.g. the constant need to google everything (I mean, everything!), and she sometimes came off as juvenile for someone that was forced to grow up too quickly. Whilst I appreciated her growth over time, I didn't find her compelling. Personally, I couldn't get past the fact that outside of Maddie's family dynamics, it seemed like the writer was no longer writing for herself and her own people e.g. going on to explain in detail how Maddie as a black woman washes her hair, and her cringeworthy dating experiences. These parts of the book were meant to be political (because blackness is inherently political) but they ended up being annoying and jarring to read. Made it too easy to tell who the target audience was at that moment.

It's a relevant and engaging debut, and I look forward to seeing what Jessica does next.

A book about the coming of age of Maddie (or Maame) and full to the brim of family dynamics, complexities, friendships, work, relationships, mental health and latent racism. All told by Maddie, the most joyful protagonist - fresh out of living with and caring for her father with Parkinsons, being the adult when she should have been the child. Abandoned by her errant mother and brother to hold the fort. And so when she strikes it out alone you are just willing her to succeed. With brilliant inner monologues and a google search theme that runs through it, the book is laced with humour, is perfectly paced and just a joy to read. Special note to the inclusion of a play on what must have been the authors initial interaction with her agent at the end which really made me smile. Highly recommend.